Zhaire Smith Injured, Won’t Travel to Orlando With Team

The Sixers were hit with some tough news today. The news was reported today that Zhaire Smith is injured and will not be making the trip to Orlando for the season's restart. Smith suffered a bruise in his left knee before the Sixers' workouts restarting last week.

This has been the newest chapter in the Zhaire Smith saga on the Sixers. After being drafted in the first round in the 2018 draft, Smith has had his struggles seeing the court. Since being drafted Smith has only appeared in 13 NBA games, with seven of those games being this season.

Although this is not a huge blow to the Sixers currently, it could affect decisions in the long-term. Smith was most likely not going to see the floor in Orlando, this injury has to question if Smith's days in Philadelphia are numbered.

As another injury looms over Smith's short time in Philadelphia you have to wonder if the team will look to move on from the young prospect in the offseason. Although Smith has not seen much time in the NBA, he has come along in the G-League.

This season Smith appeared in 28 games with the Delaware Blue Coats, where he would average 13.5 PPG, 3.2 RPG, and 2.1 APG. On top of that, he managed to shoot a stellar 37.6% from deep.

With the Sixers window of contention being open now, it seems very unlikely to keep Smith around as his development continues to stall due to injury. This could lead to possibly seeing Smith packaged in any potential trades the Sixers look to make in the offseason.

Kevin McCormick is the 76ers insider for 97.3 ESPN and 76ers editor for Sportstalkphilly.com. Follow him on Twitter @KevinMcC973.