Report: Simmons’ foot may not be fully healed, will visit doctor next week

Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor  

Philadelphia 76ers top pick Ben Simmons hasn't played this season after suffering a Jones fracture in his right foot at the end of training camp in December. While it normally takes 2-3 months to recover from surgery, sources tell Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer that a scan from January 23 showed that Simmons' foot had not fully healed from his injury. Ben had surgery to repair the fracture in early October.

According to Pompey, Simmons will head to New York early next week to find out whether or not his foot has fully recovered or not.

The first overall pick in last summer's draft is scheduled to visit the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York as early as Monday to determine if his right foot is fully healed, according to multiple sources.

Sources said that a foot scan on Jan. 23 showed that his foot was not fully healed.

Simmons suffered a Jones fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot on Sept. 30, the final day of training camp. The January doctor's visit revealed an inside portion of the bone wasn't fully mended, according to sources.

Kevin Durant suffered a Jones fracture prior to the 2014-15 season, made his debut in early December before missing 17 games and suffering a pair of injuries to the same foot. He ended up playing in just 27 games that season.

Although Brett Brown said that they expect Simmons to play in games this season, if a late-January MRI showed that the foot still needed more time to hear, it's becoming more and more likely that he may not hit the court at all over their final 26 games.  Jones fractures are complicated, writes Pompey, because they have a higher risk of re-injury compared to a chip fracture. Simmons had participated in 5-on-0 drills back in early January and later that month, the team tweeted he was progressing as expected. 

Medical update:
Simmons had planned scan in NY yesterday. Recovery progressing as expected, still no timetable for return to play.

— Philadelphia 76ers (@Sixers) January 24, 2017

There seems to be some conflicting reports on the health of Simmons' foot at this point, but if his visit to New York doesn't show a fully healed foot, his Sixers debut may have to wait until the start of next season.