Report: Sixers rookie Zhaire Smith has left foot fracture

By John Williams, Sports Talk Philly staff 

It almost seems like a rite of passage for a Sixers first round draft pick to suffer an injury before playing his first NBA game.

It started with Nerlens Noel in 2013 missing the season with a torn ACL. Then It was Joel Embiid with his foot injury that missed his first two seasons, Ben Simmons with a foot injury of his own that cost him his first season, and who could forget Markelle Fultz’s shoulder injury which caused him to forget how to shoot?

During summer league, late first round pick Landry Shamet sprained his ankle, initiating him as a new Sixer. And today, the Sixers announced that their other first round pick, Zhaire Smith, injured his left foot in a summer workout.

But soon after the report that Smith had suffered a foot injury, Shams Charania of Yahoo! Sports reported that the 2018 first-round draft selection had suffered a left foot fracture, a Jones fracture, the same injury guard Ben Simmons endured that kept him out the entirety of the 2016-17 season.

Smith had MRI/imaging in Philadelphia today revealing a Jones fracture — with surgery scheduled for later this week, league sources said. He also will see another specialist in Philadelphia. https://t.co/VT0RVpZ9oi

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 7, 2018

According to Charania, the timetable is still an unknown, but surgery for Smith definitely doesn't look promising.

The 16^th overall pick from June’s draft was working out with Tim Grgurich, who was recently hired by the Detroit Pistons as an assistant coach.

The severity of the injury is still unknown. The Sixers will reevaluate the situation in the coming days.

In six Las Vegas Summer League games, Smith tallied 7.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game while shooting a mediocre 32 percent from the field in 24.7 minutes a night.

A one-and-done at Texas Tech, the 19-year old tallied per game averages of 11.3 points, 5 boards, 1.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks while shooting 55.6 percent from the floor in 28.4 minutes.

Smith figures to see some developmental minutes on the backend of the Sixers’ bench in 2018-19 if he can stay healthy.