CAMDEN, N.J. -- As expected, Jahlil Okafor will not make his preseason debut on Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center when the Sixers play the Wizards.
The second-year big man is still doing mostly individual workouts. There is no setback, the team is just closely monitoring his "load management" coming off of surgery to repair a torn meniscus.
Joining Okafor on the sideline tonight will be Jerryd Bayless (left wrist), who has the inside track on the starting point guard spot, according to head coach Brett Brown. His absence opens up more opportunities for second-year pro T.J. McConnell and European veteran Sergio Rodriguez (see story).
The Sixers will also be without Nik Stauskas (hamstring) and Anthony Barber (right hand/wrist).
Joel Embiid will play against Washington and be on the same 12-minute restriction he was on Tuesday.
Veteran guard Gerald Henderson is dealing with some hip soreness that shouldn't cause him to miss any time. He had debridement arthroscopy surgery on his left hip before last season in Portland and missed the first eight games of the season. He said any rest for the hip is simply precautionary.
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Dario Saric has been battling back soreness, but it's minor and the team had no update. On Wednesday Saric said his back is "a little better than a few days ago" and he expects to be 100 percent when the regular season rolls around.
Brown is not available after the shootaround sessions so no starters have been announced. It wouldn't be a surprise to see the same lineup that was rolled out on Tuesday with McConnell, Henderson, Robert Covington, Saric and Embiid. Expect to see a healthy dose of McConnell and Rodriguez who are the only healthy point guards on the roster.
