Sixers Injury Report: Stauskas Sidelined For 2 Weeks

Nik Stauskas, acquired by the 76ers from the Sacramento Kings this offseason, will miss teh next two weeks as a result of stress reaction in his right tibia. | Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports

Nik Stauskas will miss the next 2 weeks because of a right tibia stress reaction, Sixers head coach Brett Brown announced before his team left for their first preseason game of the season tonight in Washington.

The injury, which Stauskas said started to bother him during the 3rd day of training camp at Stockton University, is deemed to be a minor one. Both Stauskas and Brown described resting Stauskas as precautionary.

“I’ll definitely be good for the start of the season,” Stauskas said. “We’re just being cautious right now.”

Stauskas said he is experiencing no swelling as a result of the injury.

“I couldn’t remember getting hit, or a specific play,” Stauskas said. “It kind of just progressively got worse [throughout the day], and then the trainers pulled me out of practice and we checked it out and decided it was best to get some rest.”

Stauskas competed in the FIBA Americas tournament for Canada this summer, averaging 12.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game in 23 minutes per night for the Canadians. Stauskas shot 51.5% from the field and 50% from three point range in the tournament.

Because of that experience with the national team, Stauskas isn’t as worried about missing time as he otherwise would have been.

“I feel comfortable with where I’m at just because I played a lot of basketball this summer,” Stauskas said. “I feel like I have my rhythm back and I’m in game shape. Obviously this is a little bit of a setback, but I’m not too worried about it.”

Even injured, Stauskas feels he can continue to make progress.

“I can still be engaged. I can still be learning. I’m spending a lot of time with the strength coaches working on my body,” Stauskas said. “I’m just going to continue to get better every day and maintain a positive mindset. ”

With Stauskas sidelined Brown hopes to continue to grow the second year pro through film sessions. One of the areas where Brown hopes to work with Stauskas over the next few weeks is on his pick and roll play.

“[We plan to] show him things that are areas that we think he can work on. Tape of himself, of people like [Manu] Ginobili,” Brown said. “Just sort of zoom in on some pick and roll stuff, how to create space, how to use pick and rolls, and how to read weakside rotations.

“We’ve had the unfortunate experience of being quite practiced at how to deal with injuries,” Brown concluded.

Stauskas, selected 8th overall by Sacramento in the 2014 draft, averaged 4.4 points per game during his rookie for the Kings. The Sixers acquired Stauskas in a trade this offseason.

Other injury notes

The Sixers are a banged up team heading into their preseason opener tonight against Washington.

Outside of Stauskas, the Sixers will also be without point guards Pierre Jackson, Kendall Marshall, Tony Wroten, and T.J. McConnell.

Kendall Marshall and Tony Wroten are both progressing toward returning from torn anterior cruciate ligaments they suffered last season. Pierre Jackson is slowed down by a nagging groin injury, and T.J. McConnell suffered a sprained left foot.

Rookie Richaun Holmes, selected by the Sixers with the 37th pick in last year’s draft, could be available tonight. Holmes had been limited in training camp by a sprained ankle.

Big man Nerlens Noel sat out practice yesterday due to soreness in his hip, but is expected to play tonight.

Isaiah Canaan will start for the Sixers at the point guard spot. He will be joined by JaKarr Sampson and Robert Covington on the wings, with Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor down low.

Derek Bodner covers the 76ers for Philadelphia magazine. Follow @DerekBodnerNBA on Twitter.