The 76ers are set to get a much more revealing look at their preseason mix on Thursday night against the Brooklyn Nets, with LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe and Jaylen Brown all expected to play, per ESPN, according to Legio Hoops on X, formerly Twitter.
That would mark a major step up from Philadelphia’s preseason opener against the New York Knicks, when James, Maxey and Embiid were all held out. This time, the focus shifts to seeing how the group looks when the pieces are actually on the floor together.
Brown and Edgecombe already logged minutes in that Knicks game, but the bigger storyline is obvious: the 76ers’ new “Big Five” getting their first run together in a real game setting at Barclays Center. For a team that suddenly changed its ceiling in a hurry, that’s the kind of debut fans have been waiting to see.
Philadelphia landed Brown in a trade with the Boston Celtics this offseason, then followed that up by signing James in a stunning free agent move just weeks later. Those two additions, alongside Embiid and Maxey, quickly pushed the 76ers into a different conversation after their disappointing playoff sweep at the hands of the Knicks this past spring.
Even with all that star power, the questions are still there. How does it all fit?
Can the group stay healthy? Does Philadelphia have enough elite three-point shooting and perimeter defense to actually contend?
Those are the issues that will hang over the season, but they’re also what make this one of the most intriguing basketball experiments in recent memory.
The 76ers are scheduled to open the regular season on October 20 on the road against the Knicks, who will raise their 2026 championship banner that night.
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Edgecombe has plenty of reasons to dream big in Philadelphia, where the expectations are always high and the path to contention is part of the conversation from the start. Still, his focus on the Bahamas adds another layer to his profile and underscores how much international play can matter to players whose identity is rooted as much in national pride as in league success. [Read more 🡒]