Sixers Preparing For Life Both With And Without Joel Embiid

The Philadelphia 76ers had a season to forget in 2024-25. A tidal wave of injuries sent them crashing to a 24-58 record, their worst since the “Process” Sixers of the mid-2010s.

This offseason, the Sixers set out to get younger and more dynamic by signing the likes of Trendon Watford, Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker in free agency and selecting VJ Edgecombe with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft. However, they still have a 7-foot elephant in the room in the form of star center Joel Embiid, who missed 63 games last year largely due to a lingering left knee injury.

On Friday, Embiid told reporters that he’s in a much better place heading into this season.

“This time last year, going into training camp, I didn’t really know what was possible and what I was gonna be able to do,” Embiid said. “I didn’t end up doing much. This time is a different story.”

However, he made it clear that as much as he’d like to play all 82 regular-season games, he’s fully expecting to miss time at some point.

“I wanna be honest as possible,” he said. “I think, going forward, we’re just gonna listen to the body. I’ll be honest and say that it’s gonna be unpredictable at times, and that’s OK. We’ve gotta work with that. We’ve gotta take it day-by-day and go from there.”

Team president Daryl Morey echoed those comments when a reporter asked when he expected Embiid and Paul George—who underwent knee surgery in the offseason—would be ready to play in games.

“We’re not getting into the expectations game,” Morey said. “The doctors’ advice, what Joel said on listening to his body, which is a big component on how doctors manage injuries—that’s going to be what carries the day this year.”

Considering how the Sixers fared without Embiid last season—they went 8-11 with him in the lineup and 16-47 without—those comments would normally be cause for concern. However, head coach Nick Nurse made it clear that they’re embracing this uncertainty and baking it into their preparation for the season.

“I think mentally, everybody’s gotta understand, like, this is where we are,” Nurse said. “We know there’s gonna be games missed. Every team has players missing games. And we need to just be able to forge forward immediately.

“If you wanna take the punch in the gut for a second, that’s fine. That’s all you’ve got is a second. This guy’s out, whatever. Let’s forge forward. Let’s do it together. Let’s make sure that the style of play and the effort, being prepared to play the game, all that stuff stays at a really high level.”

That’s where the Sixers’ recent additions should come in handy.

The Sixers’ New Style

For the past decade, Embiid has largely carried the Sixers on both ends of the court. In fact, last year was the first time in his NBA career that he wasn’t the Sixers’ leading scorer.

He’s never had this caliber of a supporting cast before, though.

Tyrese Maxey scored a career-high 26.3 points per game last year and was named both an All-Star and the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2023-24. George is a nine-time All-Star. Jared McCain was the early Rookie of the Year front-runner last year before he suffered a meniscus tear in mid-December. Quentin Grimes was a late-season revelation after the Sixers acquired him ahead of the trade deadline. And Edgecombe could assert himself early on as a defensive Energizer Bunny.

Granted, that supporting cast won’t be at full strength right away. George is still recovering from offseason knee surgery, and McCain just underwent surgery on a UCL injury in his thumb. Grimes has also been away from the team all summer amidst his free-agency standoff, so it might take him some time to mesh with all of the Sixers’ new faces.

Once Grimes is back up to speed and McCain returns from his thumb injury, though, the Sixers will have more guard depth than they’ve had since Allen Iverson’s heyday. That should take some of the pressure off Embiid and George and spare them from carrying too much of the offensive load.

At media day, Nurse made it clear that no matter who’s playing on any given night, he wants the Sixers to have more of a clear identity on both ends of the floor this year.

“I think we’ve talked about being a little more athletic, a little faster, a little younger, a little quicker up and down the floor, and maintaining a style of play no matter who’s in or who’s out,” Nurse said. “Next guy’s gotta plug in there and be able to fit in with the system and create the system like we want to do.”

“We need to run better. I know that sounds kind of basic, but we need to be able to run back better so we can get our defense set. We need to use that same speed and quickness to push forward better. … I know the defense we play is kind of pressure-based and certainly turnover-based. Even with 40 different players last year, we still ended up third or fourth in the league in creating turnovers. That’s still part of what we want to do, but I think you’ll see a lot more flying around. And that shouldn’t change.”

The Sixers ranked 24th in pace last season after finishing 18th in 2023-24, Nurse’s first year on the job. Even when healthy, Embiid has never been the fastest player up and down the floor, but it sounds as though Nurse wants the Sixers pushing the pace more otherwise. The injection of youth they’ve received in their backcourt over the past 18 months should pay enormous dividends in that regard.

The Sixers need Embiid and George to make it to the playoffs healthy for them to have any chance of contending for a championship this year. But unlike last year, when they made waves in the preseason by declaring that both players likely wouldn’t play in “many back-to-backs, if any,” they aren’t looking that far ahead yet.

“We’ve collectively—and this has been great messaging from Coach to our veteran leaders on down—we’re talking about just winning the day,” Morey said. “1% better every day is a Tyrese phrases he uses. We realize we’re in the prove-it phase. I don’t think it really matters what we’re saying up here on our expectations at this point. We just need to go out there and prove it, show the city and show the fans that we’re back in the conversation.”

“I’d just reiterate, we’ve gotta earn our way back into this thing, man,” Nurse added. “We’ve gotta work and earn our way back into getting in the tournament. That’s where we are.”

The Sixers’ ability to weather the storm whenever Embiid misses time might be the biggest factor that determines whether they get back into the playoff picture this season.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

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