WALTHAM, Mass. — Seven NBA draft prospects were split into two groups Friday at the Boston Celtics’ practice facility — six guards in one and Kentucky forward Julius Randle in the other.
Randle has been considered a surefire top-10 pick throughout the pre-draft process, but that status became far more uncertain when multiple reports that the 19-year-old might need surgery to repair a broken right foot that has not healed correctly surfaced Thursday.
This surgery would force Randle to miss the league’s rookie summer league, sources told both Yahoo! Sports and ESPN.com.
Randle’s mother, Carolyn Kyles, told The Courier-Journal that these reports are “a lie.”
“Everything with Julius is fine,” Kyles said. “There is no surgery scheduled whatsoever. Nothing. They don’t have a clue. They haven’t spoken to us. They haven’t spoken to Julius’ doctor. I know for a fact, because he is my son, there is no surgery scheduled, period, now or after.”
Randle, who led Kentucky with 15 points and 10.4 rebounds per game as a freshman, also offered his own take on the rumors in a tweet directed at Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.
[tweet https://twitter.com/J30_RANDLE/status/477132076320583680 align=’center’]
The other six players in attendance at the Celtics’ Friday workout were Missouri’s Jordan Clarkson, Michigan State’s Gary Harris, UCLA’s Zach LaVine, Louisiana-Lafayette’s Elfrid Payton, Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart and Michigan’s Nik Stauskas. All six are potential first-round picks.
Photo via Twitter/@SomosNBAweb
