(AP)

Byron Mullens is, admittedly, a little salty about the term “rebuilding.”

The fifth-year big man was around for two seasons of Charlotte’s transformation: a 7-59 lockout-shortened campaign in 2011-12, and a 21-61 record in 2012-13. Then the Bobcats opted against picking up Mullens’ option for this season. (He later signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, who traded him to the 76ers at the deadline.)

Now, as Mullens wrapped up a 19-win season with the Sixers, he was left to watch his former team in Charlotte qualify for the playoffs as the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, with a 43-39 record. And Mullens said he’d prefer not to repeat history.

“It sucked to be in Charlotte. It sucked to be in a rebuilding process,” Mullens said Thursday, when the Sixers conducted end-of-the-year exit interviews at their PCOM practice facility. “What sucked worse was to be in the rebuilding process and not be in the process now that they’re in, in a playoff race and in the playoffs. I’d say, if I’m going to give it my all in the rebuilding process, I’d like to be in it all the way – even after the rebuilding process is over. We’ll see what happens.”

When asked whether he’d like to return for next season, Mullens would not say. He holds a $1.06 million player option, though he could opt out and test free agency.

“We definitely talked about it, and we talked about the options we have with how many draft picks we’ve got in the draft and all of that,” Mullens said, of a discussion he had with Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie. “I’d just like to keep that between me and him, and see what happens. Obviously, everybody knows they have a lot of draft picks. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.

“It’s tough. Me and Sam talked about (rebuilding), as well. My two years in Charlotte, they had a pretty young team. Obviously it was a rebuilding kind of like we have here now. People just have to be patient. It doesn’t happen overnight. It takes a while for young guys. You’re looking at 19-year-old kids playing with grown men. It’s tough. You have to respect it and be patient.”

Two numbers that might work against Mullens moving forward: The Sixers went 0-18 in games in which he played, and 4-4 in games in which he did not appear.

(AP)

Indiana’s Roy Hibbert doesn’t think the 76ers’ rebuild will begin until Nerlens Noel takes the floor.

The rookie center, Noel has not played this season while recovering from surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee. While Sixers coach Brett Brown often extols the positives of Noel’s season, which has included traveling with his teammates and being a visible member of the team for practices and shootarounds, Hibbert said Noel will have be present in the games for the Sixers’ rebuild to take hold.

“Something’s off,” Hibbert said last week, when the Pacers were in town to face the Sixers. “They have the pieces once Nerlens is back. Michael Carter-Williams is a terrific player. Thaddeus Young has been terrific for years. They’ll be set up for the future once they get their core guys on the court and build chemistry, and go through it.”

Hibbert referenced a game this season as an example of such chemistry. He and the Pacers trailed New Orleans by as many as 16 points in the second half, and were down by five with less than two minutes to play in an Oct. 31 game. Indiana rallied to beat the Pelicans, 95-90.

“With this team, in our second game of the season, down (16) at New Orleans on the road, we fought back,” Hibbert said. “Those are the types of things (the Sixers) are going to have to experience. Once they get those core guys together, they might lose that game but it’s an experience they need to get. They have to try to rally amongst each other and fight through that and build a bond through that. They don’t have that right now, only because they don’t have everybody out there right now.”

The Sixers (15-51) visit the Pacers tonight, looking to snap a franchise-record-tying 20-game losing streak.