Andrew Bynum

Sixers GM Tony DiLeo, who announced last night that Andrew Bynum will remain sidelined indefinitely, said he anticipates the team's key offseason acquisition will return at some point, but said he's prepared in case Bynum doesn't come back, as Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs.com documents.

"We hope he will be back," DiLeo said. "We have plans for the future if he is not back with us, but we are anticipating this is a short-term thing. We want to plan on him for the long term."

Bynum, who is experiencing pain in both knees that has confused doctors, will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and it's unclear if DiLeo's "plans for the future" involve this season or subsequent years. HoopsWorld's Lang Greene speculated the Sixers, who have an open roster spot, could go after free agents Eddy Curry and Kenyon Martin, which would address Bynum's immediate absence. Kyrylo Fesenko and Chris Andersen are among other big men on the Hoops Rumors list of available free agents.

If the Sixers knew Bynum was out for the season, they could seek a trade, Moore says, but with a roster built to take advantage of Bynum with outside shooters, he advises the team to patiently await the return of their 7'0" center. Philadelphia has gone 7-6 without Bynum appearing in a game yet this season.

Sixers center Andrew Bynum has officially been ruled out for an indefinite amount of time, and there's no timetable for his return, according to a tweet from the team's public relations director, Michael Preston. 

Tony DiLeo, Philadelphia's general manager, said trading for Bynum in the offseason was a "calculated risk" and that "his knees are worse now. His condition is different." DiLeo also said that whenever Bynum returns is up to him.

Judging from these comments, it's safe to say that the Sixers might be willing to move on this offseason, chalking this trade up as a mistake. 

While it isn't difficult to imagine at least one of the league's 30 general managers offering a player with Bynum's skill set a maximum contract offer this summer, the Sixers might be too burned by their experience this season to lock themselves in financially with their would-be franchise center. 

6:33pm: Sources close to Bynum dispute the idea that he'll need season-ending surgery, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, who hears the center's ailments are not believed to be career-threatening. Instead, the Sixers and Bynum believe a definite prognosis and course of action could be determined in a week to 10 days. 

11:14am: The timetable for Andrew Bynum's recovery and his debut with the 76ers has now been pushed back several times, and it's possible it will be delayed further, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Although the Sixers haven't released a statement since the team expressed hope Bynum would be able to resume basketball activity on December 10th, the pain in the All-Star center's knees has doctors confused, says Windhorst. Bynum wasn't experiencing pain earlier in the year and hasn't undergone any major trauma, so he's at a loss to explain it.

"Germany is one theory," Bynum said, referring to the Orthokine treatment he underwent overseas this fall. "Or the [lubrication] injections. Or I have bad cartilage. I don't know."

While the Sixers haven't committed to a new timetable for Bynum's return, Jason Wolf of the Delaware News Journal spoke to one "internationally respected orthopedic surgeon" who says the details released by Bynum and the team suggested a likely diagnosis of osteochondritis dessicans lesions. The surgeon isn't involved in Bynum's treatment and hasn't seen his MRIs, but said that such a condition could keep the big man sidelined until the postseason, or longer.

"While [the lesions] can heal non-operatively, they can take a long time [four to six months] to heal," the surgeon said. "And in adult athletes, frequently they will require surgical intervention at some point if there isn’t adequate healing within the first several months of treatment.

"I’m a little bit worried, bluntly, that it’s more advanced and the guy probably does need surgery. If he needs surgery, then the year is completely written off. But if he doesn’t have surgery and they think they can demonstrate healing in about four months, then he could potentially still come back for the playoffs. That’s what it sounds like they’re thinking about."

Again, the surgeon speaking to Wolf isn't directly involved in Bynum's treatment, so knowing more specific details could affect his diagnosis. Nonetheless, the news continues to look worse and worse for the Sixers. GM Tony DiLeo and the team now expect to issue an official update on Bynum's health in December.

Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News reports that Andrew Bynum has suffered a setback in his rehabilitation from knee surgery that may keep him out longer than anticipated. On Monday, the 76ers announced that they expected Bynum to be cleared to return around December 10th, but it appears that is no longer the case.

In addition to previous issues with his right knee, Bynum now says that his left knee is bothering him as well. Neither he nor the team gave specifics on how far back this development pushes his timetable for return. Sixers GM Tony DiLeo released a statement on this news, which included an indication of what they expect going forward:

He’ll be reevaluated in mid-December, he’ll have another MRI and we’ll see what the progress is. The players have to be confident that they can play. You cannot ask a player to play injured. Whenever he feels confident that he can get out there and he’s healthy and he can help the team, we both want the same goal. We don’t want a player going out there injured and maybe creating more injury or more damage. This is a situation when he feels confident, when the doctors feel confident that everything’s OK, that’s when he’ll be back on the court.

Bynum was acquired this summer as part of the four-team trade that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers and former Philadelphia forward Andre Iguodala to the Nuggets. He has yet to make his debut in a Sixers uniform.