NBA Philadelphia 76ers

Philadelphia 76ers’ Rebuild Continues To Be Delayed With Michael Carter-Williams’ Latest Setback

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By @Greg_Sacidor

Bill Streicher - USA TODAY Sports

Bill Streicher – USA TODAY Sports

This past May, Philadelphia 76ers guard Michael Carter-Williams underwent offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. The original announced timetable for his return was 2-4 months, but now it seems as though the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year will be out much longer than expected.

Despite being able to participate in most drills so far this preseason, Carter-Williams has not yet been cleared to be involved with any kind of contact drill. When speaking to reporters after the team’s shootaround on Tuesday, 76ers head coach Brett Brown said that the 2-4 month timetable that was originally reported was “inaccurate.”

Instead, according to Carter-Williams, the timetable for his return is closer to 6-9 months. This means that the second-year point guard could possibly be out until February. Although the 76ers are not looking to be even remotely competitive this season, this unexpected news is still a big blow to the team.

Last season, while Carter-Williams was adjusting to the NBA game, center Nerlens Noel was sidelined for the entire year while recovering from knee surgery. This meant that the 76ers’ rebuilding plan could not yet be fully set in motion. 2014-15 was supposed to be the year that this process could finally take a productive step forward. But with rookie center Joel Embiid already projected to miss the entire season and now Carter-Williams possibly out until the middle part of the year, the 76ers’ rebuilding process continues to be delayed.

Every time the 76ers take one step forward, it seems as though they take two steps back. Despite the team appearing to be comfortable with having several of their young players miss large periods of the season with various injuries, this is not the correct way to go about things.

If the 76ers ever hope to be legitimate contenders in the Eastern Conference, let alone the NBA, then they have to get all of their young talent on the same court, at the same time, sooner rather than later.

With Carter-Williams and Embiid out for extended periods of time this season, Dario Saric unsure of what his future holds over in Turkey and the NBA on the verge of revamping the league’s draft lottery system, general manager Sam Hinkie‘s plan may never come to complete fruition.

Greg Sacidor is a Philadelphia 76ers and NBA writer for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Greg_Sacidor or add him to your network on Google. 

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