Nick Nurse does not have a stable hand to work with yet, and that is becoming the real issue for the 76ers.
Philadelphia has the kind of starting five that looks devastating on paper, but the catch is simple: too often, it is not all there. That has forced the 76ers to shuffle their opening group almost every night, and while that is not yet a disaster this early in the season, it does make life harder for Nurse and his staff as they try to forge a clear identity, especially on offense.
The 76ers need that offensive identity badly. Right now, they are leaning on defense and their ability to finish games to keep winning, but a reliable scoring attack has to be built through repeated minutes and familiar combinations. Without those reps, the process gets messy fast.
Their standard starting five - Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, and Joel Embiid - has been on the floor together in three of the team’s five games so far. That’s not nothing, but it also points to the problem. With injury management for the older stars and repeated injuries to younger players, there is every reason to expect this group will keep missing pieces more often than the team wants.
The upside for Philadelphia is that the roster looks deeper than it has in the past, at least on paper, so it can survive the occasional absence of one or even two starters. But if that becomes a regular thing, the bigger concern is what it does to the group’s long-term rhythm.
Good teams build habits together. Constant changes make that harder.
Nurse has never been shy about adjusting in real time, but there is only so much tweaking you can do when the lineup keeps shifting under you. His systems on both ends depend on clarity, and rotations can get awkward when the group is thin. He is also known for trusting his regulars heavily rather than reaching deep into the bench.
The good news for the 76ers is that there is still plenty of time left to sort this out. Perfection is not the standard here.
What matters is whether this team can keep doing the little things and the bigger things well no matter who is available. But the longer the lineup stays in flux, the tougher that job gets.
In Other News...
Knicks Send A Roster Message Right Before Facing The 76ers
The Knicks made a quiet but telling roster move before their meeting with the 76ers, declining to pick up Pacome Dadiets fourth-year team option. The decision turns the former first-round pick into an unrestricted free agent in June and adds another layer to a New York roster that has been sorting out its long-term plans while trying to stay competitive right now.
Dadiet had already been the subject of preseason trade discussions, so this was not a sudden shift in direction. By passing on the option, the Knicks created salary space for next season and sent a clear message about where the young wing stands in their plans, especially after he struggled to carve out consistent minutes. For the 76ers, it is another reminder that even a division rivals roster decisions can ripple into the broader Eastern Conference picture. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Open NBA Cup Play With Sixers Missing A Key Piece
The 76ers will open NBA Cup play at home against the Knicks without Jaylen Brown, who has been ruled out because of left knee patellar tendinopathy. Head coach Nick Nurse said Browns knee soreness surfaced after the recent game, and the guard was unable to take part in pregame shootaround, leaving Philadelphia to adjust on the fly for a matchup with added early-season stakes.
Nurse did not offer a timeline for Browns return, which leaves the Sixers waiting to see how long they will be without one of their key pieces. In the meantime, the coaching staff is weighing lineup options, with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope or Dean Wade among the candidates to step into the starting group and help absorb the loss on the wing. [Read more 🡒]
Mike Ganseys First Sixers Offseason Could Make NBA History
Mike Ganseys first offseason running basketball operations in Philadelphia has already given the 76ers a very different look, and the front office overhaul has been impossible to miss around the league. The new team president helped steer a summer that brought in Jaylen Brown and added depth with Dean Wade, Anfernee Simons and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a series of moves that has the Sixers positioned to contend now while also keeping an eye on what comes next.
The early returns have been strong enough that Gansey is already being mentioned in rarefied company, with chatter building around a possible run at NBA Executive of the Year. If that happens, it would not just reflect one busy offseason, but a level of league-wide agreement that is hard to come by in a job where every major decision gets picked apart from multiple angles. [Read more 🡒]