(AP)

Upon arriving in Philadelphia, Nick Young had two items on his agenda.

He had to undergo an MRI on his left knee, which turned up news that the Los Angeles Lakers guard stands to miss at least the next two weeks. Then, Young went to the King of Prussia Mall. Since Young, who played for the 76ers last season, cannot play against his old team Friday, he opted for the next best thing.

“I want to go out there and play against them, talk some trash to Spencer (Hawes) and Evan (Turner) and Thad (Young) and have some fun. That’s the downside,” Young said. “But I went and got a suit jacket because I still want to be out there and talk some trash. I’m looking forward to it.”

Young came to Philly under the auspices of a season that never came to fruition. He, Dorell Wright and Jason Richardson were brought aboard as shooters with which the Sixers would surround Andrew Bynum. But Bynum, beset by knee injuries, never played. And Young, who was given a one-year, $5.6 million deal, never lived up to the expectations created by his financially bulky contract.

The Los Angeles native, Young took a one-year contract worth $1.1 million from the Lakers. He has a player option for next season that he’s likely to pick up.

“Being able to play at home and for the Lakers is great,” said Young, who’s out for at least two weeks with a non-displaced fracture of his left knee cap. “I was seeing my options, but I was looking at the Lakers and the opportunity that was going to be there for me. Playing for them and being home, I couldn’t ask for better.”

Young has experienced a career renaissance with the Lakers, for whom he’s averaging 16.9 points (second behind Pau Gasol) on 41.9 percent shooting.

With the Sixers, under Doug Collins, he was an on-again, off-again personality. He was Swaggy P, an affable, congenial player who was always smiling. Some days, he was liked. Others, he was not. Some days, he was playing in crunch time and contributing. Others, he was coming off the bench only when the game was out of reach.

“Philly was good. It had its ups and downs,” Young said. “Obviously I wish I played more. But the city and how they embraced the Swaggy P Movement, I didn’t know they were going to be big on it, but they enjoyed it.”

Young played only eight of his final 25 games last season with the Sixers. The other 17 were DNP-CDs.

“Just sitting there and watching it, it’s hard. It was hard for me,” Young said. “I didn’t know why I wasn’t playing. (The Sixers) were bringing in players from the D-League and they were playing over me. It ain’t like I cussed (Collins) out or nothing. I was just sitting and waiting. But Doug hits me up from time to time. He texts me. He says he’s proud of me and stuff.”

In Young’s words, last season “is what it is.” And, Young said, it could have been different.

“Drew never got a chance to play. I know the fans were going crazy over that,” he said. “But what shocked me was this year. I had no idea they were going to trade Jrue Holiday, but obviously they’ve seen something in Carter that no one else did.”

That would be Michael Carter-Williams, Holiday’s successor as the Sixers’ point guard. Young will get a good look at the rookie. Only, it’ll have to come from the Lakers’ bench.

(Associated Press)

The 76ers, back in August, put the faith of their 2012-13 season in the big hands of Andrew Bynum.

Now the season's upon us...and the Sixers.

Wednesday night, when they open their most-anticipated campaign in more than a decade, the Sixers will be without Bynum against the Denver Nuggets at Wells Fargo Center. And who knows just how long they'll have to bide their time without the big man in the middle.

The Sixers are hoping it's not long. Nonetheless, the Bynum-less Sixers are still an improvement upon last season's club. Though having the 7-footer in the lineup wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. (Read more about that here.)

Without Bynum, the Sixers fall into a clutter in the Eastern Conference. Clearly, the Los Angeles Lakers -- the team that traded Bynum to Philly -- are the favorites to win it all. With Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard, the Lakers don't stand to have much competition in the NBA. (Read a preview of the NBA season here.)

For more on the Sixers' season, check out my breakdown of the five biggest questions surrounding them -- including when Bynum will be back and if his knees will ever be healthy enough.