As the Philadelphia 76ers get set to travel north to take on the Toronto Raptors for their first preseason game, they will be down a couple of pieces on their roster.
They will obviously be missing a certain All-Star point guard, but there is one player that would probably benefit from playing in the preseason the most and that is rookie big man Charles Bassey.
The 53rd overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft was not able to play in the summer league due to contract issues and he will now be heading into the preseason behind the 8 ball a bit. Bassey will not be able to travel to Toronto due to a work visa issue that needs to be worked out by the team. This appears to be an isolated incident and he will not be affected by the visa going forward.
“I think a lot of rookies did it last year where they didn’t have a summer league, but this year, you’re even further back because the rookies did have a summer league so that puts you back,” said coach Doc Rivers on Sunday after practice. “Bassey playing this game doesn’t matter one way or the other, to be honest. He’s had all the practices, he’s gonna miss one game so I don’t think that matters except for he needs to get into a game and he will. There’s nothing you can do about this. This is stuff that happens when travel. So it’s not a big deal today.”
Rookie big man Charles Bassey will not travel to Toronto tomorrow for the team’s preseason game with the Raptors as the team finalizes his work visa, per a team official. This is isolated to preseason and he is not expected to miss any additional time related to the visa. #Sixers
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) October 3, 2021
Bassey can turn to another young big man on the roster, Paul Reed, who did not have a summer league in 2020, but he was able to still make an impact down in the G League. Reed went on to win the G League MVP for the Delaware Blue Coats and Bassey can look to him and take advice from him.
“He’s probably in my same shoes,” said Reed. “It’s tough. You don’t get those reps and you don’t really have a feel for what’s going on out there. It’s hard, but I’m pretty sure he might go to the G League and get those reps so he’s just gotta be ready for the opportunity and take advantage of it.”
The Sixers and the Raptors will tip-off at 7 p.m. EDT up in Toronto on Monday.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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