The Philadelphia 76ers' disaster season continues as Tyrese Maxey is now set to miss "weeks" due to injury.
It's been one step forward and two steps back for the Philadelphia 76ers so far this season. And things are slated to get slightly worse before they get better for the Sixers. Philadelphia is 1-6 as they head into the weekend even more undermanned than before. Joel Embiid is suspended for the next two games and now the team will also have to face the Los Angeles Lakers and Charlotte Hornets without Tyrese Maxey after he sustained a hamstring injury.
According to ESPN's Shams Charania, Maxey is expected to get a full evaluation later today but the early indications are that he's expected to miss at least a couple of weeks with this injury. If this evaluation is correct, Maxey could miss upwards of eight games before he makes his return to the lineup. The injury couldn't have come at a worse time considering the Sixers were finally about to get to full strength.
Once Embiid serves the final two games of his suspension, the expectation is that he will make his regular-season debut on Tuesday, November 12 against the New York Knicks. However, at least for the next two weeks, it does appear as if the Sixers are going to have to figure out how to survive at less than 100 percent once again.
It's been a disaster season for the Philadelphia 76ers
Considering the hype that was built around the Sixers after their big offseason, it's almost as if everything that could've gone wrong for the Sixers has since the start of training camp. And just when it appeared as if they were going to have a legit chance to begin to climb their way out of the early-season hole they created, they're now dealt with another untimely injury.
If the Sixers will have to wait two weeks before they play their first game at full strength, that means the team will have lost roughly the first 15-20 games of the season. That may not seem like much but that's roughly a quarter of the regular season that has been flushed down the drain because of injury. While you can't blame the front office, coaching staff, or even the players, it is incredibly frustrating considering many expected the Sixers to emerge as potentially the biggest threat to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference.
Instead, the Sixers are potentially starring down the barrel of a potential 1-8 start to the season. And it could get even worse if the return of Embiid isn't something that sparks this team to get on a run. The Sixers haven't been able to catch a break so far this season and at some point, it may be time to admit that this could just not be their year. It's still early and the Sixers could still theoretically shift the narrative, but the vibes in Philadelphia can't be great at the moment.