Joel Embiid has long been the center of everything the 76ers do. This season, though, Philadelphia may need him to accept a different role if the team is going to function the way it should.
That is not a knock on Embiid’s talent. At his peak, he is one of the best centers in the league, a force on offense and a major problem for opponents on defense.
The issue is availability. He has not been on the floor consistently enough for the Sixers to build their entire identity around him.
Philadelphia has more high-end help around him now, with LeBron James, Jaylen Brown, and Tyrese Maxey all in the mix to push the team forward. If the Sixers are going to play the faster style that seems to fit this group, the offense should flow through those three more often than it does through Embiid.
That does not mean Embiid disappears from the picture. When he is healthy, there will still be possessions and even games where he should be the focal point.
But the bigger picture points in another direction. His slower, post-oriented style has never matched the pace Maxey prefers, and James and Brown can help Maxey play the way he wants to play.
For years, Embiid was the obvious top option in Philadelphia, the player everything revolved around. But the roster has changed, and so has the logic. The Sixers now have enough talent that they should lean into the players who can drive a quicker, more natural rhythm.
That puts the burden on Embiid to adjust. He should run the floor more, set more screens, and work without the ball.
In other words, he needs to make the kind of sacrifice that lets James, Brown, and Maxey be their best selves. The Sixers can still use Embiid ball at times.
It just should not be the default anymore.
In Other News...
Sixers Still Face Debate Over Three Veteran Fits They Passed On
The 76ers offseason has already been defined as much by the veterans they did not bring in as the moves they made, and the discussion has only grown louder as the roster takes shape. Jonas Valanciunas, Kyle Anderson and Matisse Thybulle each represented a different kind of fit, from backup center help to frontcourt versatility to point-of-attack defense, which is why their availability lingered as a talking point even after Philadelphia moved on.
What makes the debate sting a little more is how neatly those three names line up with needs the Sixers have been trying to solve. Valanciunas could have stabilized the middle, Anderson would have added another layer of forward depth, and Thybulle would have brought a familiar perimeter identity back into the mix. Instead, Philadelphia is left to live with those choices and whatever answers emerge from the current roster, which is why the missed opportunities still feel like part of the story rather than a finished chapter. [Read more 🡒]
Sixers Have A Quiet Frontcourt Need That Could Matter Soon
The Sixers offseason roster picture is mostly settled, but there is still a subtle frontcourt issue worth watching as the season approaches. The team has enough overall talent to feel comfortable in most spots, yet power forward remains a place where the fit can get murky, especially if the front office wants a more reliable shooting presence around its core.
Detroit has been mentioned as a possible trade partner in that search, with the conversation centered on whether Philadelphia can find a cleaner balance of size and spacing without shaking up the roster too much. Any move would still have to work on the salary side, and the more realistic paths seem to involve shuffling a younger forward out of the mix rather than making a splashier change. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Face A Big Yves Missi Decision As Trade Interest Builds
Philadelphias search for a dependable backup center has naturally led to Yves Missi, a young big whose profile fits what the roster has been missing behind Joel Embiid. In the speculative deal being floated, the 76ers would get the New Orleans rookie while sending out Jabari Walker and draft capital, a reasonable framework for a team that has to keep thinking about Embiids recent injury history and the toll it can take over a long season.
Missi is the kind of center who could give the 76ers real size, energy and a more stable option when Embiid sits, which is why his name has surfaced in trade chatter. The complication is obvious: New Orleans has not treated him like a movable piece, and the market around him suggests the Pelicans still see him as part of their core rather than a player to cash out quickly. [Read more 🡒]