Sixers vs. Carter-Williams? Awkward

MILWAUKEE - It might take months of watching Michael Carter-Williams on highlights, and many games face to face, for 76ers coach Brett Brown to accept the sight of his former point guard in the Milwaukee Bucks' dark green, red, silver, and white.

Brown's first matchup against the player he's arguably spent the most time with since taking his post in August 2013 will be Wednesday, when the Sixers (12-44) face the Bucks (31-25) at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

This game comes six days after the Sixers traded the reigning rookie of the year to Milwaukee in exchange for the Los Angeles Lakers' top-5-protected first-round pick. The team also sent rookie guard K.J. McDaniels to the Houston Rockets in exchange for point guard Isaiah Canaan and a second-round pick.

Carter-Williams has yet to play for the Bucks because of a strained right big toe that sidelined him his final three games as a Sixer.

"It's going to be awkward," Brown said of seeing Carter-Williams in a different uniform. "It's going to be different. You know it's part of our jobs. I still communicate with Michael and K.J., and I follow [K.J.] every time K.J. plays.

"It was slated when Michael was still with us that he was going to play in the Milwaukee game. So maybe that still holds true that he is going to play against us, I don't know. But it will awkward."

The matchup should be awkward for Carter-Williams, too. He's facing the team that gave him all-star treatment for a season and a half before shipping him out.

However, Carter-Williams realizes he's in a better position at the moment.

The Bucks have the sixth-best record in the Eastern Conference. The Sixers are the second-worst team in the NBA.

"I love it here," he told the Vinson Report before Monday's game against the Chicago Bulls. "They have a great attitude here. They play as a team. They are of course chasing [a spot] going to the playoffs.

"It's a different vibe."

Carter-Williams added that he feels more relaxed in Milwaukee.

"There was some pressure in Philly," he said.

That's because despite being a second-year player, Carter-Williams was one of the lone returnees from last season. As a result, he was forced into a leadership role. The former Syracuse standout also was looked upon to score in addition to running the offense.

But like Brown, another one of Carter-Williams' former teammates thinks it will be surreal to see the 23-year-old in a Bucks uniform.

"Wow, it's going to be something," said Nerlens Noel, who was also a Boston-area AAU basketball teammate of Carter-Williams'. "I haven't played against him since high school, really, when we went to different high schools.

"It's going to be special to suit up against him. It's going to be all love. We are just going to compete and try to get the W."

@PompeyOnSixers

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