With likely one opening day starter in Ben Simmons succumbing to injury prior to the start of the 2016-17 NBA season, another Sixer’s debut could be delayed. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey, point guard Jerryd Bayless could miss games in the early portion of the season.
The point guard had an MRI on Wednesday, and the results weren’t favorable. The Sixers have been hush on the details, saying that it will make [an] announcement in the near future. Bayless said Thursday night that he wasn’t sure what was wrong.
When asked by Pompey if he’ll miss games early in the regular season, Bayless answered “Yeah, I might.”
Bayless has been held out of the Sixers’ first two preseason games, dealing with a sore wrist, as head coach Brett Brown has started second-year point guard T.J. McConnell in his place. He could sidelined throughout the entirety of the preseason as a precaution from management.
The 28-year-old Bayless was expected to provide stability at the point this season and share ball handling duties with Simmons. That plan has evidently gone awry nearing the start the season. The Sixers are getting hit hard repeatedly with unfortunate injury news and losing a versatile guard in Bayless only compounds issues the rebuilding team faces.
Bayless averaged 10.4 PPG, 2.7 RPG and 3.1 APG for the Milwaukee Bucks last season, while shooting an impressive 43.7 percent from deep, and is in the first year of his three-year, $27 million deal he signed in the offseason.