Philadelphia 76ers Plan To Use D-League Affiliate To Help Players Rehab

The Philadelphia 76ers roster has an extremely inordinate number of injured players. Obviously, there's Joel Embiid, who's out with a foot injury for most -- if not all -- of the upcoming season. Then, there's Michael Carter-Williams, who is projected to miss the first week or so of the season. However, the 76ers injury bug has also been affecting some of the players on the bubble of making the roster.

Ronald Roberts was fighting for a roster spot after going undrafted in 2014, but a quad injury caused him to miss most of the preseason and led to his ties being cut with Philly. Another player who the 76ers are high on, Jerami Grant, has been suffering from an ankle injury all preseason. He was the 39th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.

Grant is an extremely raw product, but the situation in Philadelphia is perfect for him. The forward averaged 6.8 points and 4.4 rebounds in 11 games between the Orlando and Las Vegas Summer Leagues.

When asked about Grant and the possibility of using the Delaware 87ers as a place for him to tune up his game as he recovers (via CSN Philly):

"Just to get him runs," Brown said. "I can categorically say we are going to pay attention to him a lot. I thought he was coming on [before the injury]. If we can use the D-League for his benefit then we will.

"The way we position that to our players is, it is not a demotion. It is a stage, a vehicle to play basketball again in the same system. It is right down the road, and we intend on working with him closely."

Though he hasn't played all preseason, the 76ers don't seem to have any interest in cutting Grant. Philadelphia hasn't been shy about using the 87ers as a vehicle for players to get minutes. Lorenzo Brown was sent back and forth on almost a weekly basis just last season.

The Sixers' open arms policy with their D-League affiliate shows how useful a close-distance relationship can be between NBA and D-League. It may be a pain for the players, but the 76ers are dedicated to getting their players minutes wherever they can.