Brown: Sixers hope Noel can come back

Brett Brown tried to clarify his Monday comments where the 76ers rookie head coach said he didn't expect Nerlens Noel to play this season.

At Tuesday's practice, Brown said the decision whether the rookie will play "is going to made by a variety of a lot smarter people that me. Who knows what's going to happen with Nerlens? We hope he can come back."

The 6-foot-11 center is still recovering from a torn anterior ligament in his left knee.  He was expected to be sidelined until December while he recovered from the injury, suffered in February during his lone season at Kentucky.

The Sixers acquired the sixth overall pick from New Orleans in a draft-day trade for all-star point guard Jrue Holiday.

Follow and contact  Inquirer 76ers beat writer Keith Pompey on Twitter @PompeyOnSixers