Simmons latest to join frontcourt casualty list

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The Philadelphia 76ers are waiting with bated breath on a top draft pick with … wait for it … a foot injury.

Ben Simmons left practice Friday afternoon at Stockton University after rolling his ankle in a team scrimmage, then was later revealed to have a fracture in his foot.

The No. 1 overall draft pick’s ankle injury necessitated an xray and MRI that revealed a fracture in the fifth metatarsal of his right foot. Sixers’ team doctors, who consulted on the x-ray, didn’t provide a timeline in a team statement, saying only that “further medical evaluation and treatment options are being considered.”

Simmons’ injury harkens to the Sixers’ disturbing recent rash of drafted big men with leg injuries. Nerlens Noel, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2013 draft, missed the 2013-14 season with a torn ACL suffered during his playing career at the University of Kentucky. Joel Embiid, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 Draft, has yet to play in an NBA game after a recurring foot fracture (though to a different bone, the navicular bone).

With Embiid resuming basketball activities late last season and ready for game action this fall and Dario Saric in the fold, hopes are high that the pits of the Sixers rebuild that has yielded 47 total wins the last three years are a thing of the past. Simmons’ injury puts a damper on the optimism for the time being. — Times Staff

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Top draft pick Ben Simmons, shown competing in NBA Summer League action, broke a bone in his right foot Friday during the 76ers’ final training camp scrimmage at Stockton University.