At this point, calling Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George a “Big 3” is highly offensive to real trios of superstars that have taken the floor together for other teams. But that was at least what Daryl Morey and company envisioned when George signed with the team in the 2024 offseason. But that vision has been far from reality and we’re now almost a year and a half into the tenure of all three players on the Sixers.
It’s pretty dark when you think of it that way. George is in his age 35 season
and signed for two more seasons after the current one. Even the optimist on the George contract probably didn’t see him producing at an All-Star level in 2026-27 and 2027-28. Toss in Embiid last year playing the fewest amount of games in a single season since he first stepped on an NBA floor and it was pretty understandable to see why Maxey was the only one of the three players that generated enthusiasm from the fanbase entering this season.
If you chose to view the glass as half full coming into 2024-25, and I doubt many did, your stance was probably something along the lines of “Embiid can’t possibly miss more time this year, right?” and “PG can’t really be worse than he was last season, right?” Well, yes, Embiid is likely to play in more than just the 19 games he played last season, having already appeared in 13 this season before he hit the new year. George has been about the same as he was last season, contributing mostly on defense and shooting percentages that are lower than what he was shooting in Los Angeles. So, I guess that means he hasn’t been worse than he was last season.
The problem is, last season was so bad for Philadelphia, and for Embiid and George individually, that the two players barely clearing last year’s standards of performance isn’t inspiring much confidence for their 2025-26 seasons. After Friday night’s loss to the Bulls, there’s a decent chance the Sixers do not win a game in the 2025 portion of the season in which all three of Embiid, George and Maxey are on the floor.
On one hand, it’s pretty explainable. Head coach Nick Nurse probably feels an obligation to involve Embiid and George, not only because of their salaries, but there have been glimpses — more so from Embiid this season than George — of why those players are paid what they are paid. Embiid had 31 points in 32 minutes of action in the Windy City on Friday night. He hasn’t been as explosive defensively, but he’s been better on that end of the floor of late. He won’t come close to MVP contention this season, but he might do enough on certain nights to remind everyone why he has won the award in the past. In other words, there’s enough from Embiid and George during some games for Nurse to want them heavily involved. But heavily involving the two of them limits how effective Maxey can be offensively and Maxey is far and away the most consistent of the three players at this point in their careers.
In each of the last two games, Friday night in Chicago and Tuesday night at home against Brooklyn, Maxey, George and Embiid all dressed for Philadelphia. Maxey scored below his season average in both games and shot a combined 12-for-38 in the two losses.
The same could probably be said for the other exciting young guard in Philly’s backcourt, VJ Edgecombe. Edgecombe did not play on Tuesday night against the Nets but went 4-for-13 from the field and was a -15 in Chicago on Friday night. The other two games that Philadelphia lost with its “Big 3” available were a game earlier in December against the Lakers and one at the end of November against Atlanta. Edgecombe played in both of those games and attempted just six field goals against Atlanta and was just 5-for-13 from the field against the Lakers in 38 minutes of action.
But let’s not put this all on Embiid and George. It’s easy to blame expensive veterans when the team results aren’t there, but it should be noted that prior to the two losses this week, Philadelphia was 5-4 in games Maxey and Embiid both played in without George and 6-3 in games Maxey and George both played in without Embiid. Additionally, while no one may want to hear this, all four losses with Maxey, George and Embiid on the court this season have been by single digits. Granted, Brooklyn was large and in charge on Tuesday night, but the losses to the Bulls and Lakers were tightly contested into the final minutes and the loss to Atlanta went to double overtime. A couple plays here and there could have flipped two of these games to wins and 2-2 with all three players on the floor suddenly doesn’t feel like an identity crisis.
It’s also important to point out that in the double overtime loss to Atlanta, the minutes of Embiid and George were being monitored in a game that was 10 minutes longer than the standard 48 minutes. Against the Lakers, Embiid simply had a rough shooting night — average night from Embiid from the field probably gives the Sixers a win there without anyone else contributing more.
There are a variety of other factors that should be considered here as well when discussing the team’s 0-4 record in games Embiid, George and Maxey all appear in. Are we asking enough questions about Nurse’s performance this season? I’m not calling for a coaching change, but it is the job of the head coach to get the most out of his roster and find ways to maximize his players. The above research on Maxey and Edgecombe’s performances in games with Embiid and George on the floor would suggest that Nurse has not done a good job of empowering his young guards in every game this season.
Additionally, while lots of attention will always be on Embiid, George and Maxey for as long as they’re all teammates, a little more help on some of these nights could have again flipped two of the four losses to wins. Against the Bulls this past Friday night, Embiid, George and Maxey all scored in double figures. The only other Sixer to score in double figures in the game was Edgecombe, who just got there with 10 points on an inefficient shooting night. In the loss earlier this month to the Lakers, Quentin Grimes played 29 minutes off the bench and shot just 1-for-6 from three-point land. Justin Edwards and Adem Bona got 20 and 19 minutes of action respectively on Tuesday against Brooklyn. Edwards was a -9 in his 20 minutes and Bona was a -10. Jared McCain has not been able to pick up where he left off last year. Perhaps what’s most disappointing about all of this is that Andre Drummond has actually been pretty solid for Philly too. But there just haven’t been enough steps forward by some of the young players who are not named Maxey or Edgecombe. Sure, some of that could again be Nurse not getting the most out of them, but the players are also not innocent bystanders.
So, to answer the question, do the Sixers have an identity issue? They might. But it’s also probably too early to say. They’re 16-13 following the loss to the Bulls and they got to 13 losses a lot faster than their 29th game in 2024-25. For as open as the East feels this season, it’s hard to complain with a regular season that sees Philly tread water and do enough to finish with one of the top six seeds in the conference and avoid the play-in tournament if that’s where this is headed.
However, there’s also a world in which the issues with Embiid, Maxey and George all playing do not get fixed. It’s not impossible to see the Sixers miss the play-in tournament all together or certainly lose quickly in it. In this kind of one step forward, two steps backwards season, Nurse probably gets pink slipped in the spring, and the Sixers move forward hoping someone else can make the most out of the situation next season. Of course, I’m sure they’ll try to get off of the final two years of George’s contract, but this is the bed they’ve made for themselves.
Right now it’s a bed that’s comfortable enough to sleep in 2-3 days a week, but impossible to sleep in for the other 4-5 days in the week. Maybe they’ll get more comfortable as the season wears on. If not, 2025-26 is going to be a bumpy ride to nowhere.
