It appears that the Philadelphia 76ers will begin the regular season without one of their main reserve players, as he continues to recover from injury.
It was a severe blow to the Philadelphia 76ers depth chart when Wilson Chandler went down with a hamstring injury in the preseason opener against Melbourne United. The Sixers had planned on checking up on Chandler’s condition in two to three weeks after the initial diagnoses. However, according to head coach Brett Brown, the veteran’s “a ways away” from being recovered.
#Sixers coach Brett Brown on where @wilsonchandler is his rehab. The forward strained his left hamstring on Sept.28 against Melbourne United. pic.twitter.com/hWCNIYKKJB
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) October 11, 2018
As Brown noted in the video above, there’s not a really strict timetable for a return, but he feels it should be about a month before Chandler returns to the court. Which indicates a late October debut would seem like a good guess of when the veteran combo forward returns to action. That would mean that Chandler would miss the beginning portion of the regular seasons.
More from Roster
- Sixers star Tyrese Maxey comments on James Harden situation
- Philadelphia 76ers Ten Biggest Mistakes of the Last Ten Years
- Trade Whispers to Franchise Fixture: Maxey’s Uncertain Path to Stability
- Philadelphia 76ers welcome Javonte Smart to their roster
- 6 Worst Philadelphia 76ers starters of the Allen Iverson era
It doesn’t help that rookie Zhaire Smith is expected to miss time as he recovers from two surgeries this offseason. Smith and Chandler both can play small forward position and were expected to see time there off the bench.
Sixers fans shouldn’t be too concerned about Chandler’s absence to begin the season. Rookie Landry Shamet proved that he’s ready to get minutes in Chandler’s/Smith’s stead and as I mentioned in a previous article, depending on how Furkan Korkmaz plays during the preseason will determine if Philadelphia can rely on the second year player.
Kormaz had a underrated preseason and had good production in limited minutes. Through four preseason games, Korkmaz averaged 12.5 minutes, 10.3 points and 2.8 rebounds, while shooting 53.3 percent of his 3-pointers. As long as Korkmaz can continue to be productive in short spurts, then Philly will be able to weather the storm without Chandler to begin the season.
Chandler will be an important part of the Philadelphia 76ers second unit once he returns, but as the preseason revealed, the team has enough depth to survive Chandler’s injury for the short term. Both Shamet and Korkmaz have the skills to help the the Sixers bench stay afloat until Chandler is fully healed.