Tyrese Maxey doesn’t sound caught up in the splashiest headline surrounding the Philadelphia 76ers’ offseason. Not Jaylen Brown.
Not LeBron James. For him, the biggest swing factor is simpler: Joel Embiid being on the floor and involved from the start.
Speaking to ESPN, Maxey pointed to Embiid’s presence in training camp as a major boost for the 76ers as they prepare for a season loaded with expectations.
“If you haven’t been playing with a big like Joel, there’s not many. It’s very hard, very difficult to learn certain things.
“So, with him being here, we can drill those things over and over. It’s been what, like two, three weeks that we’ve had just drilling and drilling. That’s a good thing.”
That kind of continuity has been hard to come by for Philadelphia in the past, and Maxey’s comments make the point without having to spell it out. When Embiid has been sidelined, the 76ers have had to keep adjusting around a player whose combination of skill and power simply cannot be replaced.
The roster around him looks very different now. Philadelphia landed Jaylen Brown in a stunning trade with the Boston Celtics that sent Paul George the other way, then followed that up by bringing in LeBron James, the biggest free agent on the market. On paper, the 76ers were the big winners of the offseason.
That influx of talent comes with heat, too. Maxey and VJ Edgecombe are now part of a group facing a fresh layer of pressure in Philadelphia, even if Brown and James are built for it and Embiid has lived with it throughout his time in the city.
There is also the matter of where the 76ers are trying to get back to. The last time they finished as the No. 1 seed was in the shortened 2020-21 season. With strong competition from the champion New York Knicks, Philadelphia is aiming to climb that high again before making its playoff push.
In Other News...
Sixers Still Have One Preseason Question Before Celtics Tuneup
The final preseason stop comes Friday night in South Philadelphia, where the 76ers will get one more look at themselves against the Celtics before the games start to count. Nick Nurse has said he plans to run out his first-choice starting lineup, a useful chance to sharpen the rotation and see how the group responds against a familiar East opponent after what has been a relatively healthy training camp.
Two players will sit this one out, with Anfernee Simons and Adem Bona ruled out because of injuries even though both have been taking part in practice. For a team trying to build rhythm and settle its opening-night look, the bigger issue now is less about who is unavailable and more about whether this group can leave the preseason with the right feel heading into the regular-season opener. [Read more 🡒]
76ers Suddenly Have A Center Chance They May Need To Act On
The 76ers center depth took another hit with Ariel Hukportis injury, and that has put some urgency on a familiar front office question: how to patch the back end of the roster without overcommitting. Torontos decision to waive two-way center Trey Jemison III has created one possible answer, since he is now available to any team looking for a bigger body and a little NBA mileage.
Philadelphia is weighing whether to claim Jemison or use its last two-way slot on him, a move that would at least give the team another option in the middle as it tries to survive the early stretch. Jemison has bounced around the league and has size and experience, but the appeal comes with the usual caveat for a player in his position: the 76ers would be betting on depth first, with his consistency and longer-term upside still very much open to question. [Read more 🡒]
Sixers Fans Will Have Strong Feelings About VJ Edgecombes Priorities
VJ Edgecombes priorities have already drawn attention before his first season has fully settled into the bigger picture around the 76ers. The young guard said representing the Bahamas at the Olympics would mean more to him than winning an NBA championship, pointing to the chance to help his country reach a stage it has never reached in Olympic mens basketball. For a player just beginning his pro journey, it was a candid answer that spoke as much to identity and heritage as it did to basketball ambition.
Jason Williams, though, was not having it, arguing that players in the league should place the organization paying their salary above anything else. It is the kind of comment that tends to hit a nerve with Philadelphia fans, who expect total commitment and are already learning what makes Edgecombe tick. The tension here is less about whether he cares about winning than about where he sees his greatest responsibility, and that debate figures to follow him as his profile grows. [Read more 🡒]