After a surprise first-round upset over the No. 1 seed Chicago Bulls in the playoffs last year, expectations were high for the Philadelphia 76ers heading into the 2012-13 season–especially after they acquired Andrew Bynum from the Los Angeles Lakers. While Bynum was considered one of the top centers in the league when he was acquired from the Lakers, there was a huge risk on the Sixers’ end considering all of the complications he’s had with his knees throughout his career and unfortunately–the risk doesn’t look like it’s going to pay off anytime soon.

Through the first seven games of the season, Bynum has yet to play a single game and now it looks like he won’t be able to return to the court until at least 2013. At first, Bynum was supposed to return in time for training camp, but Philadelphia is now saying their star center is expected to miss at least five more weeks–which is the last thing they want to be dealing with.

The Sixers were hoping the addition of Bynum would make them one of the top contenders in the Eastern Conference and even though they’re off to a 4-3 start–there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Hopefully, these next five weeks are the last of Bynum’s problems with his knee as the last thing Philadelphia wants to do is look back at the end of the season and regret acquiring him from the Lakers during the summer.

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