Heading into last season, the Sixers were thinking big-picture. After all, they were among the preseason title favorites—one of team president Daryl Morey’s favorite barometers—after signing Paul George
in what initially looked like the biggest free-agent coup in franchise history.
During training camp last year, Morey said the Sixers were “going to be very smart” about how they managed Joel Embiid throughout the season, as they were focused on “April, May, June.” He later told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps that “part of being smart about it” was having Embiid and Paul George “probably not play many back-to-backs, if any.”
Fast-forward six months, and the only thing the Sixers were thinking about in April, May and June was the draft lottery and who to take with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft.
This year, the Sixers have been singing a far different tune. Instead of being laser-focused on the playoffs, they’re taking a far more day-by-day approach up and down the roster.
“We’ve collectively—and this has been great messaging from Coach to our veteran leaders on down—we’re talking about just winning the day,” Morey said at media day. “1% better every day is a Tyrese [Maxey] phrase he uses. We realize we’re in the prove-it phase. I don’t think it really matters what we’re saying up here on our expectations at this point. We just need to go out there and prove it, show the city and show the fans that we’re back in the conversation.”
“I’d just reiterate, we’ve gotta earn our way back into this thing, man,” head coach Nick Nurse added. “We’ve gotta work and earn our way back into getting in the [playoff] tournament. That’s where we are.”
Less Embiid-centric
For the past decade, the Sixers have largely revolved around Embiid on both ends of the floor. But after his injury-ravaged 2024-25 campaign, they aren’t putting all of their eggs in that basket anymore.
“I think the biggest thing I’m trying to accomplish is like, we need a standard,” Maxey told reporters at media day. “This is who we are every single day no matter who plays, who doesn’t play. You see Philadelphia 76ers, this is what you see. You’re gonna see that team every single night. Every single time you turn the TV on, every single time we set foot in whatever arena that we’re playing in, this is the team that you’re gonna get. And it’s the type of culture that you’re gonna get. And they’re gonna do a certain thing a certain way every single night.”
So, what might that look like?
“No matter who’s out there, we’re gonna compete, we’re gonna play hard, we’re gonna play fast,” Maxey said. “That’s what we’re gonna do. That’s what it has to come down to. So now, it’s not a, ‘Oh, we gotta rely on one thing. And OK, you’re not playing, we gotta change our whole thing.’ Nah, we’re gonna play the same way every single night.
“And of course, there’s little stipulations. When Joel plays, then of course they’re gonna double him. They’re gonna do those different things. But our base needs to be the same every single night. I think that’s the biggest thing we’ve been working on.”
Embiid effectively conceded at media day that he’s likely to miss time this year, as he plans to “just listen” to his body. “I’ll be honest and say that it’s gonna be unpredictable at times, and that’s OK,” he added. “We’ve gotta work with that. We’ve gotta take it day-by-day and go from there.”
Unlike last year, the Sixers are going into the season clear-eyed about that. They’re preparing themselves, too.
“I think mentally, everybody’s gotta understand, like, this is where we are,” Nurse said at media day. “We know there’s gonna be games missed. Every team has players missing games. And we need to just be able to forge forward immediately.
“If you wanna take the punch in the gut for a second, that’s fine. That’s all you’ve got is a second. This guy’s out, whatever. Let’s forge forward. Let’s do it together. Let’s make sure that the style of play and the effort, being prepared to play the game, all that stuff stays at a really high level.”
The youth movement
Coming out of last season, Morey pledged to make the Sixers “younger” and “more dynamic” after the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers rode their youth and depth to deep playoff runs. Nurse noted that “for really basic things like defensive transition or defensive rebounding,” the Sixers needed to be “a little bigger, longer, stronger, more athletic just to get that basic thing kind of under control.”
The Sixers’ new offseason additions should help them with that goal.
VJ Edgecombe is already drawing rave reviews from his teammates and the coaching staff. At media day, Nurse also highlighted the versatility of Trendon Watford.
“He’s a guy that can run the floor, sprint to the corner and finish a layup. Or he can grab the rebound, bring it himself, get you into the offense. Great vision. Sees the floor. Draws defenders. Finds the right plays. And then he can score a bucket, too, if we need him to. We like it. I’m glad he’s here.”
Throw in Jabari Walker and Dominick Barlow, both of whom are on two-way contracts, and the Sixers are suddenly flush with young players. In fact, they have more 25-and-under talent than most of the league, as Morey was quick to point out on media day.
“Daryl mentions the youth that we have,” Nurse added. “I think we’ve talked about being a little more athletic, a little faster, a little younger, a little quicker up and down the floor, and maintaining a style of play no matter who’s in or who’s out. Next guy’s gotta plug in there and be able to fit in with the system and create the system like we want to do.”
“We need to run better. I know that sounds kind of basic, but we need to be able to run back better so we can get our defense set. We need to use that same speed and quickness to push forward better. I think you’ll see a lot more of a—I know the defense we play is kind of pressure-based and certainly turnover-based. Even with 40 different players last year, we still end up third or fourth in the league in creating turnovers. Like that’s still part of what we want to do, but I think you’ll see a lot more flying around. And that shouldn’t change. That shouldn’t change as much.”
Morey conceded at the end of last season that he overindexed on older, proven playoff performers such as Kyle Lowry, Eric Gordon, Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond last offseason. The pendulum swung aggressively in the opposite direction this past summer. The Sixers now appear poised to follow the Thunder and Pacers’ lead in riding youth and depth to survive the gauntlet of the 82-game regular season and reduce the wear-and-tear on Embiid, George and their other established veterans.
That isn’t guaranteed to pay off in a playoff berth. If Embiid and George miss as much time as they did last year, it still figures to be tough sledding for the Sixers. However, their dynamic backcourt of Maxey, Edgecombe, Jared McCain and Quentin Grimes should be able to carry far more of the load than it has in years past.
Nurse also specifically mentioned how that backcourt depth “should be able to keep energy up with some shorter stints just because of the sheer numbers,” which would be out-of-character for him. He didn’t earn the Canadian Thibs moniker for no reason, after all. He’ll have to fight the temptation to overplay his stars—even in close games—to reduce the likelihood of overuse injuries.
If the Sixers do follow in the footsteps of the Thunder and Pacers by leaning on their youth and depth more than before, the 2024-25 season might not wind up being a total waste.
