Tony Wroten Was Headed For ACL Surgery, But Now He May Not Be
By Cody Daniel
It’s now been just over two agonizing weeks since the Philadelphia 76ers’ most explosive offensive option, Tony Wroten, suffered a partially torn ACL, which was expected to sideline Wroten for the remainder of the season after having surgery.
But according to Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com, Wroten is now considering the thought of bypassing surgery and allowing his partially torn ACL recover with time.
“I have been seeing a lot of doctors and getting a lot of different opinions,” Wroten said. “I am just putting a lot of pieces together and figuring out my next steps.”
“A partial tear is so different than a torn ACL,” Wroten said. “It is not a guarantee, 100 percent, that I have to have surgery. It is a tough decision, an important decision that I want to make. I want to talk it over with Sam Hinkie and the doctors.”
Of course, there’s some reason to be concerned if Wroten were to take the surgical route to repair his ACL, as it would mark the third procedure he will have had on the same right knee, which comes as a worrisome thought to any Sixers’ fan who has witnessed the electricity Wroten has provided on the hardwood for Philadelphia over the past two seasons.
But Wroten, on the other hand, is taking the more optimistic path, just as you could expect from a player with his passion and enthusiasm for the game.
“I would rather have that than it continue to be different knees,” he said. “It is just a part of the game. It isn’t something that they can’t fix. It isn’t something I can’t recover from.”
“Obviously, I felt like I was having a good season, and I wanted to continue that. But everything happens for a reason. I am not down — I’m just going to hit it and come back better than ever.”
Whether Wroten does come back better than ever is something that will only be seen in due time, but time is just what could be so comforting, or nerve-wracking given the history of the Sixers recent track record convincingly favors the long-term health of their players, just as with benching key pieces for an entire season like they did with Nerlens Noel and will continue to do with Joel Embiid.
But on the other hand, where the extended recovery could put Wroten’s future in Philly in jeopardy comes with Wroten having only one season left on his contract before becoming a restricted free agent.
Regardless of which decision Wroten goes with, whether it be surgery or rest, one thing we can guarantee in Sam Hinkie is going to be extremely cautious with the recovery of a guy who could potentially be the Sixers’ most dangerous offensive weapon for years to come.
As for this year, Wroten being sidelined throughout the next two and a half months of the Sixers’ season is all-but-guaranteed. All we can do now is hope a special young talent doesn’t end up facing some long-term consequences after some repetitive knee issues.