PHILADELPHIA -- As word spread through NBA inner circles that Kansas prospect Joel Embiid suffered a foot injury, the Philadelphia 76ers wondered if his misfortune was just the break the downtrodden franchise needed. "I sniffed opportunity," Sam Hinkie, the teams president and general manager, said Friday. "The moment he got hurt, we thought we might get him. We might be just the organization with just the set of owners, and we might be the one to do it." When the 7-foot centre was available at three, the Sixers pounced, even though he could miss up to a full season because of a broken foot. The 76ers are used to big men sitting out the season. Former All-Star centre Andrew Bynum never played a second because of bad knees in 2012-13. And rookie Nerlens Noel sat out all of last season because of a torn ACL. Noel, the No. 6 overall pick out of Kentucky, was antsy to play toward the end of a 19-63 season. The Sixers refused to rush him, not wanting to risk additional injury in what was always planned as a lost -- or, tanked -- season. Embiid recovery from a stress fracture in his right foot could take five to eight months. So will the Sixers play him in another season where the Sixers are building again toward a high lottery pick instead of a post-season berth? "Guess what our approach will be," Hinkie said, smiling. "Well focus on the long-term health of the player." Embiid wont be Philadelphias only lottery pick sitting out next season. Croatian forward Dario Saric, the 10th overall pick, signed a three-year deal last week to play in Turkey. The Sixers hold the rights to the 6-foot-10, 230-pounder for the next three years, and it could be that long until he plays for Philly. By the time hes set to join the Sixers, the organization hoped a playoff berth would be within reach. Hinkie said the Noel-Embiid frontcourt will be a "menace" at the rim. Coach Brett Brown was already drawing up plays for the duo -- Xs and Os hell have plenty of time to perfect. "I do think that Joel and Nerlens can co-exist," Brown said. "I think I can find a way to play those two guys together. Its a really good problem to have." Hinkie credited Philly fans for their "patience and understanding" for another lean season where the best outcome would be a No. 1 draft pick and not a seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Outside of rookie of the year Michael Carter-Williams and veteran forward Thaddeus Young, the Sixers have few other credible players, and will likely stack the roster again with D-League castoffs and 10-day contract stopgaps. "Its not even close to demoralizing," Brown said. Brown tried his best at an optimistic spin on the seasons ahead. Knowing the security of three more years left on his contract makes it easier to wait for a project like Embiid. The versatile 7-foot Embiid had a fantastic freshman season with the Jayhawks, averaging 11.2 points and 8.1 rebounds while blocking 72 shots to earn Big 12 defensive player of the year honours. Embiid, who grew up playing soccer and volleyball, only decided to pursue basketball a few years ago. He started to blossom as a senior at The Rock School and ultimately chose to attend Kansas, where he arrived with less fanfare than fellow freshmen Andrew Wiggins and Wayne Selden. Embiid hurt his back while landing awkwardly during a game late in the season, and missed the Jayhawks final two regular-season games and the Big 12 tournament. He also missed a victory over Eastern Kentucky and a season-ending loss to Stanford in the NCAA tournament, after which he said that he would have been able to play had Kansas advanced to the second weekend. Hinkie said the Sixers consulted various doctors and felt confident there was little long-term risk to his health once the foot healed. Embiid was projected as Clevelands No. 1 overall pick before the draft. The honour went to Wiggins. "In this scenario, and only this scenario, does he fall to three," Hinkie said. "If he can remain healthy, he can have a fantastic, fantastic NBA career." Notes: 76ers G Jason Richardson exercised the $6.6 million player option for next season and will return. The 7-foot C Byron Mullens declined his $1.1 million option and will become a free agent. Cheap Reds Jerseys . Torres tells Spanish daily AS "in football you never know where you will be inside one month. Im going to work hard, thats all you can do with this last part of the season so important. Wholesale Reds Jerseys . Greece was on the wrong end of a 3-0 rout to Colombia in its first game of the tournament. They surrendered a goal in just the sixth minute of the contest, and despite some promising attacking play, failed to crawl back into the match. Japan, on the other hand, struck first in its match with Ivory Coast, with Keisuke Honda putting his side into the lead in the 16th minute. https://www.cheapredsjerseys.us/. In taking its goal tally to 99 in all competitions already this season, City delivered another demonstration of its lethal firepower at Etihad Stadium to set up a fourth-round match at home to another second-tier team -- Watford. Cincinnati Reds Store . Early in the first period, Stuart pinched in from the blue line, hit Nash and was assessed a minor penalty for elbowing. Nash remained in the game for the rest of the first period, but did not return for the second. Cincinnati Reds Shirts . The Heat centre scored 10 of his 30 points early in the first quarter to silence the Toronto fans as Miami defeated the Raptors 113-101 on Friday night.MONCTON, N.B. -- Alex Dubeau made 37 saves as the Moncton Wildcats rolled to a 6-1 win over the Rimouski Oceanic in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play Wednesday. Ivan Barbashev, Will Smith, JC Campagna, Christophe Lalonde, Reid Halabi and Lucas Batt each scored for the Wildcats (11-14-1), who led 4-0 after the first period. Dominic Beauchemin spoiled Dubeaus shutout bid when he scored for Rimouski (13-7-4) at 7:29 of the third period. Dubeau finished with 37 saves. Oceanic goalie Philippe Desrosiers allowed five goals on 22 shots, while teammate Zachary Fortin gave up a goal on the only shot he faced in 4:53 of playing time. --- ISLANDERS 4 VOLTIGEURS 1 CHARLOTTETOWN -- Antoine Bibeau allowed a goal just 61 seconds after the opening faceoff, and kept the Islanders goal puck free the rest of the way with 29 saves. Down 1-0, Charlottetoown (12-8-3) scored four straight with goals from Alexis Pepin, Kameron Kielly, Daniel Sprong, Matthew Bursey and Daniel Sprong.dddddddddddd Joey Ratelle opened the scoring for the Voltigeurs (13-9-1) with his ninth goal of the season. Joe Fleschler made 24 saves for Drummondville. --- REMPARTS 6 ARMADA 0 BOISBRIAND, Que. -- Francois Brassard made 27 saves and his Quebec offence did the rest. The Remparts went ahead early with a 3-0 lead while outshooting Blainville-Boisbriand 17-6 in the first period Nick Sorensen and Alexandre Caron-Roy each scored twice for the Remparts (11-8-5), with singles coming from Anthony Duclair and Ryan Culkin. The league-leading Armada (17-3-2) pulled starting goaltender Etienne Marcoux after he allowed three goals on 13 shots. Samuel Montembeault came on and gave up three goals on 17 shots. ' ' '