(Associated Press)

Tony Wroten is out of sorts, but he’s not blaming his sprained right ankle.

The 76ers’ sixth man had another rough outing Friday night, in a 125-99 loss to Atlanta. Wroten went 1-for-13 from the floor, including 0-for-4 from 3-point range, with six points, three assists and two turnovers.

“It’s not 100 percent,” Wroten said of his bad ankle, “but that has nothing to do with the way I play.”

Wroten missed three games this month due to a right ankle sprain he picked up Jan. 18 at Chicago. Since his return last week, he’s played poorly in four straight games: 8-for-33 overall, including 0-for-9 from long range, with averages of 5.8 points, 1.2 assists and 2.0 turnovers per game.

“Just part of the game. You go through strings like this,” he said.

Coach Brett Brown, without singling out individuals, said the Sixers need to play more completely. He said too often the Sixers attempt to shoot their way back into close games, rather than defend, make stops and force turnovers.

Wroten’s game has not lent itself to much at the defensive end. Even still, Brown said he can find fault in the second-year guard’s offensive game.

“I speak to Tony often. We challenge him directly on the importance of being a point guard,” Brown said. “We know he can get to the rim, but you have to grow to make other people better. When is the crowd not your friend? You have to kick it, because he has that skill of getting to the rim. We challenge him always. You’re more than just an attack guy at the rim. You have to grow to be more than that.

“When he isn’t finishing, he gets deflated. There’s a sadness, at times, that he has to get over. I have to help him. He’s 20 years old. You’ve got to kick him in the tail and get him up. Life’s not that bad. And get him moving, let’s go.”

The Sixers (15-32) visit Detroit (18-27) Saturday.

(Associated Press)

Andrew Bynum's unceremonious tenure in Philadelphia could be coming to a close soon.

The free agent center received a $24 million, two-year contract offer from the Cleveland Cavaliers Tuesday, according to Yahoo! Sports. Bynum, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is meeting with the Atlanta Hawks today, to see if he can get a deal from them, as well. Yahoo! is reporting that the deal from the Cavaliers has the second year of the deal as a team option (to protect against a suddenly healed Bynum walking at free agency a year from now) as well as incentives like minutes played, games played and training-camp participation.

Bynum, acquired by the Sixers in a four-team megadeal last summer, never played a game in Philadelphia. He entered training camp with chronically injured knees and underwent season-ending surgery on both joints in March, after several bids to return to the court.

When healthy, Bynum is one of few bigs who can play at his level. The 7-foot, 285-pounder had his best season as a pro in 2011-12 with the Los Angeles Lakers, averaging 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds per game.

Bynum's agent, David Lee, said recently that his client would not work out for teams looking to give Bynum a contract.

The Sixers have shown little to no interest in re-signing Bynum in free agency, despite new general manager Sam Hinkie's somewhat openness to doing so. At least that's how Hinkie made it sound in May, when he was introduced as the team's GM and president of basketball operations, though it wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement.

“I think of Andrew like the thousands of other young men walking around the world that are unrestricted free agents that have potential to play NBA basketball,” Hinkie said at the time. “He is one of those. I'm duty bound to consider them and look at them. All of them.”

Nearly 11 months ago to the day, Aug. 14, 2012, the Sixers introduced Bynum to fans in an open-to-the-public press conference at the National Constitution Center. There were high hopes that the Sixers, a team that fell one win shy of the 2012 Eastern Conference finals, would get over the hump behind Bynum. But the center never played, citing a host of knee injuries along the way.

In September, Bynum flew to Germany for a non-invasive, plasma-enriching procedure called Orthokine. In October, he had injections of a joint lubrication called Synvisc-One. In November, while rehabbing his right knee, he admitted he injured his left knee while bowling. In December, Bynum was told to ramp up his rehab. In January, he engaged in a workout in front of reporters. In February, in addition to his primary physician, he visited an orthopaedic surgeon in New York. In March, he underwent two knee surgeries.

That's an abbreviated timeline of Bynum's one-year, $16.8 million tenure with the Sixers. For the more-complete look, take a walk down memory lane on the blog.

(Associated Press)

ATLANTA – The Sixers' loss to the Hawks Wednesday night did more damage than setting them back in the standings.

Jrue Holiday rolled his right ankle in the second quarter and jammed his left thumb in the fourth quarter of the Sixers' 107-96 loss at Philips Arena. The all-star point guard said he's fine and doesn't expect to miss time because of the bumps and bruises.

Afterward, Holiday had ice bags wrapped around both knees and a third taped to his left hand.

“What can I say? I'm getting old,” the 22-year-old said.

Holiday suffered the ankle injury toward the end of the second quarter, when he blocked Atlanta's Devin Harris from behind. Holiday took a tumble after the snuff and was slow to get up. Though it looked as though Holiday also had rolled his ankle Tuesday on a layup attempt against Boston, Holiday said he didn't.

“I rolled my ankle today. At halftime, toward the end of the half,” Holiday said. “It's cool, though. I rolled it a little bit. It's nothing severe or anything.”

As for his thumb...?
Read more »

(Associated Press)

Evan Turner and Jrue Holiday will play Friday night against Atlanta, and the Sixers are expected to provide an update regaring Andrew Bynum before the 7 p.m. game.

Sixers general manager Tony DiLeo will speak to reporters at 5:30 p.m. about Bynum, the injured center who visited his personal doctor, David Altchek, Thursday in New York. Bynum is expected to be available to talk about the doctor's visit, as well.

It's believed Bynum underwent MRIs on his bilateral knee bone bruises during his follow-up visit to Altchek. If the Sixers have good news, it might mean that Bynum could begin impact conditioning or basketball-related activities. He's been relegated to swimming and low-impact stuff for the time being.

Turner, who sustained a mild left ankle sprain Wednesday in Houston, is a go. Turner got treatment Thursday on the ankle and participated in Friday's shootaround.

“I'm going to come out and compete tonight,” Turner said.

Turner added that he has no limitations “once I get moving.”

“I ran today,” he said. “I competed at a high-energy level, which I normally do. I'll be fine. I just shouldn't worry about it, you know?”

Holiday, who's missed the last four games with a left foot sprain, also declared himself eligible for a return. He said Sixers trainer Kevin Johnson has been taping Holiday's his foot differently the last few days and said it's working.

Holiday said he appreciated Sixers coach Doug Collins' intent to keep Holiday out until he was 100 percent.

“I feel like if I came back any earlier, I guess the result of what happened would've been the same,” Holiday said. “I probably would have been out anyways because my foot was pretty bad. Again, the trainers took care of business and I'm good to go.”