Julius Randle currently seems like a lock to be drafted in the top-10, and it wouldn’t be a huge shock to see him slip into the top-5 of this month’s Draft. Hopefully that won’t change with the news that he’ll likely need surgery on his previously bothersome right foot. From Adrian Wojnarowski:
The procedure is expected to keep Randle out six to eight weeks this summer, sources said, but there’s a strong expectation within front offices that he’ll be cleared for the start of training camp in the fall. In this scenario, Randle would miss rookie summer league in July.
Randle, who is 6-foot-9, is still planning workouts with teams, including Boston on Friday, league sources said.
As a high school senior in Texas two years ago, Randle missed three months with a fractured right foot. There was a screw placed into his foot that needs to be removed as a precautionary procedure, sources said. Randle hasn’t experienced pain in the foot, nor did he miss any games because of it in an All-America freshman season at Kentucky.
His draft stock isn’t expected to be impacted because of the surgery, league executives said. Several executives said they considered this a minor issue.
