Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel will make his season debut on Sunday against the Pistons, according to head coach Brett Brown.
The Sixers will be without Joel Embiid (back), but will have Jahlil Okafor as well as Noel to use against Detroit’s talented frontcourt players.
Nerlens Noel last played on October 4th in a preseason game against the Boston Celtics. He was sidelined for the rest of the preseason, and was forced to miss the team’s first 23 games this season due to the injury.
He underwent surgery on October 24th, a minor procedure that operated on an inflamed plica right above his left knee, and was sidelined indefinitely. The Sixers have contacted teams around the league in the meantime, holding hopes it can eventually move Noel, but most talks have reportedly become stagnant.
With Philadelphia having three promising bigs on its roster, Noel, 22, understands that one of them is likely to be eventually moved.
Noel, the No. 6 pick of the 2013 draft, re-joined the team for the first time since his surgery last week in Philadelphia. Despite recognizing that a trade is likely coming in the future, Noel remains focused on getting back to the level he was at before being injured, regardless of which team he is on.
Noel averaged 11.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per contest last season with the 76ers.
