Doc Rivers Isn't Worried About Charles Bassey's Absence vs. Raptors

NBA Summer League and preseason are a valuable time for young players -- especially those who are on win-now teams. For a squad like the Sixers, they believe they are championship contenders heading into the 2021-2022 NBA season.

Therefore, it's going to be difficult for young and inexperienced players to garner minutes throughout the regular season. Former Western Kentucky big man Charles Bassey falls under that category.

Coming off of a three-year stint in college, Bassey entered the 2021 NBA Draft. That's when he became Philly's third pick of the night as they selected him in the second round with the 53rd overall pick.

Despite being a ready-to-win-now team, the Sixers didn't flip any of their draft picks this offseason for experienced players. Following the draft, Jaden Springer, Filip Petrusev, and Bassey were all introduced as the team's newest members.

Back in August, the Sixers had all three rookies practicing ahead of the 2021 NBA Summer League games in Las Vegas. But when the five-game schedule started, only Springer and Petrusev played.

Bassey, who had yet to agree to a contract, sat out to avoid any injuries. Unfortunately, his "holdout" lasted the entire Summer League season. Therefore, Bassey has yet to garner any NBA action outside of the practice court.

Monday would've been an excellent opportunity for Bassey to make his debut as the 76ers open up the preseason against the Toronto Raptors on the road. However, his debut gets put on hold once again as Bassey was ruled out since he's working on finalizing his work visa.

Following Philly's final training camp practice, before they traveled to Toronto, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers discussed Bassey's situation and made it clear that the rookie missing the first game isn't a big deal.

"I think a lot of rookies did it last year where they didn't have a summer league, but this year, you're even further back because the rookies did have a summer league, so that puts you back," Rivers explained. "Bassey playing this game doesn't matter one way or the other, to be honest. He's had all the practices, he's gonna miss one game, so I don't think that matters except for he needs to get into a game, and he will. There's nothing you can do about this. This is stuff that happens with travel. So it's not a big deal today."

While Bassey's absence puts the rookie in a difficult situation as he misses yet another opportunity to take the floor, he'll still have three more games to pick up some much-needed NBA experience. After the Sixers take on the Raptors on Monday, they'll face Toronto at home for a rematch three nights later. Then, they'll wrap up the four-game schedule with matchups against Brooklyn and Detroit over the next week or so.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.

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