The Sixers are really going to miss Justin Anderson

After playing fairly well for the Philadelphia 76ers so far this season, Justin Anderson will be out for at least the next two weeks with shin splints.

Justin Anderson has been one of the Philadelphia 76ers‘ best-kept secrets.

While he’s yet to establish himself as a starter in Brett Brown‘s starting five, Anderson has carved out a nice role in the Sixers rotation and has shown incredible promise whenever he steps foot on the court.

After spending three years at the University of Virginia, Anderson was selected with the 21st pick in the 2015 NBA draft and joined a stacked Dallas Mavericks frontcourt. Even though he never became a starter for Mark Cuban’s team over his two seasons in the Lonestar state, he developed a bit of a reputation for his hard-nosed defense, and willingness on the court, a skillset that obviously drew the attention of the Bryan Colangelo and the 76ers front office.

When the team was looking to unload soon to be free agent Nerlens Noel, Colangelo ultimately decided to swap out their young center for a package highlighted by Anderson and draft compensation.

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Now a member of a much less crowded frontcourt, Anderson became a regular contributor to Brown’s squad, and even started eight games. When paired with Robert Covington, the 76ers had one of the best defensive one-two wing punches in the league and helped to hold the team down against some of the best shooters in the league.

One highlight many fans will not soon forget is Anderson’s incredibly stingy defense against Carmelo Anthony when he was a member of the New York Knicks. Anderson contested virtually every shot Anthony took that night and helped the team to pull out a last-second win off a beautiful spin shot by then-starting point guard T.J. McConnell.

But as the 76ers’ roster has morphed considerably to fit the unique skill set of 6-foot-10 point guard Ben Simmons, Anderson has again found himself relegated to the bench, but it’s incredibly difficult to keep a good man down.

After appearing sparingly over six of the team’s first nine games, it became more and more clear that the team needed more consistent contributions from the bench, and inserting a player like Anderson, alongside McConnell, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Amir Johnson and Richaun Holmes, really served as an added boost on the team’s West Coast trip.

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In addition to his near constant motor and defensive excellence, Anderson has also made strides as an outside shooter, going 36-percent over the month of November. With a more consistent, 13.4-minutes of action per game, the future looked bright for the 24-year old wing.

Which is why his recent injury is so unfortunate.

With Anderson set to miss at least the next two weeks with shin splints, the team reshuffle their rotation for the foreseeable future. When facing off against the Golden State Warriors, Anderson’s rangy defense, athleticism, and motor could have come in handy when facing off against the likes of Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, and Andre Iguodala, and may have turned the tides in a game that was in hand for much of the evening.

Even though the team did see the return of veteran combo guard Jerryd Bayless in their heady home victory over the Utah Jazz, his one-way game is far from an adequate replacement for Anderson’s game. At 6-foot-6, 230-pounds, Anderson is capable of covering players across the court, one-through-four, and can assist the team as an auxiliary shooter.

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With a pivotal games against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics in the queue, it’ll be interesting to see how Anderson’s absence will impact the team, as defensive bulldog wing players are incredibly hard to come by.