Raise your hand if you’re tire of the Andrew Bynum sideshow? Yeah, I thought so.
The guy who was at the center of the blockbuster trade the team pulled off last season - and which sent their best player, Andre Iguodala, out of town - surfaced against yesterday.
Not to play. Not even, as Allen Iverson once so eloquently intoned, to practice.
No, Bynum popped again to update us on the status of his knees. He says he has every intention of playing for the Sixers this year. That’s the good news. The bad news is that he doesn’t think he’ll be ready to practice for another week or two.
Honest.
If you don’t believe me you can read Chris Vito’s account here.
Bynum has yet to take part in a single practice for the Sixers. They built this team around his presence in the center spot, adding a bunch of snipers who they expected would be fed the ball on kick-outs from one of the league’s legitimate star centers.
It hasn’t exactly worked out that way. Bynum has been on the shelf with various knee ailments. The snipers have for the most part been duds.
Now both Bynum and the Sixers are facing crunch time. Bynum will be a free agent after the season. Would the Sixers possibly consider signing him to a new deal, coming off this disaster of a season?
No one is saying.
If I was the Sixers GM, fans would not have that worry. That’s because I would hold a press conference to announce that the team was releasing Bynum. Then I would apologize to the fans, stating that the team took a gamble on a star player and it blew up in our face. But I would not ask the fans to wait on Bynum for one more day.
My guess is that is not going to happen. Instead, I fully expect Bynum will play a handful of games at some point. It’s the ultimate Catch-22 for both fans and the team. If Bynum plays well, then what do they do?
Would you sign this guy - and these knees that have degnerative problems - to a new deal.
What is to say Bynum does not go through the same circus act next year? Then again I suppose you could go the other direction and say he could play at the All-Star level he did before the injuries. But would that be the Sixers' luck? Can you say Jeff Ruland?
Stay tuned.
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