Sixers sit Andrew Bynum for at least three weeks

The 76ers have added many new pieces over the summer. However, the one that has generated the most anticipation, Andrew Bynum, will miss the first three weeks of training camp - and possibly all of the preseason - to allow his knees to recover from treatment he received in Germany. He also has a bruised bone in his right knee.

Training camp for the Sixers opens Tuesday at St. Joseph's.

"It's definitely disappointing," Bynum said. "I want to be out there, and I'm going to do everything in my power to get back out there."

Bynum, 24, has had surgery on both his knees. However, he and the team both emphasized that shutting him down is not related to those past surgeries and that the Sixers are doing this in order to maximize the therapeutic effects of the Orthokine treatment he traveled to Germany to receive last month.

Bynum decided to have the noninvasive treatment - a series of five or six injections over the span of five days that reportedly relieve inflammation - after Kobe Bryant, his former teammate with the Los Angeles Lakers told him that the shots helped soothe the pain in his knees.

The 7-foot, 285-pound Bynum received the treatment during the third week of September. When he started informal workouts with his teammates he noticed that his knees were still feeling a degree of discomfort.

Sixers team physician Jack McPhilemy and a New York doctor examined his knees within the last few days and found no structural damage. However, they both agreed that Bynum should stay away from basketball for another three weeks.

In the time since the procedure, Bynum, who looks trim, said he has been both playing basketball and lifting weights.

"The treatment definitely worked, and it helped me a lot," Bynum said. "They told me to take the time to let the Orthokine do its work. They came to the decision to just shut me down for a little while. But I'm still going to do everything that the team does - go through walk-throughs, stretching, and keeping my conditioning up on the treadmill. I'm going to continue to do low impact stuff."

When he is ready to resume basketball activities, the Sixers will be expecting high-impact results from Bynum. Acquired from the Lakers as part of a four-team, 12-player deal this summer, Bynum, who averaged 18.7 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game, was named to the Western Conference all-star team for the second time last season.

And while they have acquired Jason Richardson, Dorell Wright, Nick Young, and Kwame Brown, Bynum is by far the most important new acquisition.

Fortunately for the Sixers, unlike last season, when they had a shortened training camp due to the lockout, this season they will have a full training camp and seven preseason games.

"We think we have constructed the roster and added pieces that we think will fit together well, but we have to get practice time on the floor," Collins said. "We added depth, and that's going to help us now until Andrew gets back."

Collins extended. The Sixers also announced they picked up the option on Collins' contract for the 2013-14 season.

"Doug has repeatedly proven that he is one best head coaches in the NBA, and we consider ourselves very fortunate to have him here in Philadelphia," Sixers managing owner Josh Harris said. "We look forward to Doug's continued leadership, passion, and dedication to the organization and our fans know that he will work tirelessly in order to put our team in the best position to succeed every time they step on the court."

Moore signed. The Sixers signed free-agent center Mikki Moore on Monday, bringing the number of players in camp to 18. Moore (7 feet, 225 pounds) has appeared in 564 games with 181 starts. He has averaged 5.8 points and 3.9 rebounds in just more than 18 minutes a game since entering the NBA as an undrafted free agent in 1998.