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Philadelphia 76ers: Wilson Chandler expected to miss beginning of season

By Lucas Johnson

PHILADELPHIA. PA - SEPTEMBER 20: Wilson Chandler #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on during a press conference to introduce Elton Brand as the new General Manager at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 20, 2018. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA. PA - SEPTEMBER 20: Wilson Chandler #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on during a press conference to introduce Elton Brand as the new General Manager at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 20, 2018. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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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.

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.

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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.

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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.