Daryl Morey and the rest of the Philadelphia front office are going to have challenges in upcoming summers. Thanks to the term left on the max contracts to Joel Embiid and Paul George, constructing future rosters will prove difficult. Perhaps there’s a world in which Morey can get off of George’s deal as the wing has shown signs of life since returning from his suspension and his contract has two years remaining on it compared to Embiid’s three.
But as the Sixers prepare to participate in the NBA’s
play-in tournament for the second time in three seasons, we are yet again preparing for another postseason, should Philly get out of the play-in tournament, without Embiid for at least part of it. If we’re being completely honest, it’s probably going to be all of the postseason. Who in their right mind is going to pick them to beat Boston in the first round if they get a victory on Wednesday night against Orlando?
However, the 2025-26 Philadelphia 76ers season was never one that anyone expected to come with a deep playoff run. Fans were either checked out after an abysmal 2024-25 or ready to turn the page and see how quickly VJ Edgecombe could adapt to life in the NBA and what kind of backcourt tandem he could make with Tyrese Maxey. At best, it felt like fans were in wait-and-see mode as Embiid and George returned from respective knee procedures.
During the regular season, Embiid showed signs of his old self, particularly offensively. But unfortunately, it was only glimpses of the player he once was and he only played in 38 games. Despite the fact that Embiid is likely to be a Sixer for each of the next three seasons, this season was always a transitional one for the franchise. It was more about what kind of future the franchise could carve out for itself rather than doing all it could to make one last run with Embiid.
It is for that very reason that while Embiid’s recent appendicitis diagnosis is a tough blow for a future Hall of Famer who can never seem to catch a break, that the franchise could benefit from whatever the rest of April brings. Without Embiid, the organization will potentially get a look at how close they are to Boston, the franchise that seemingly everyone in the East has been competing to dethrone for the majority of the 2020s. Should the Sixers indeed square off with the Celtics in the first round, that series should give Morey the ability to make some more informed decisions about the team heading into the offseason. However cold this may sound, the reality is that all of those decisions about future roster construction should be made without Embiid being considered at all.
Anything Embiid contributes for the remaining three years on his contract should be viewed as a bonus. Frankly, anything the Sixers do in the playoffs should be viewed as a bonus as well. This season was always about figuring out what the franchise’s future is and how it can build a contender around players that aren’t Joel Embiid. Would a win against Orlando and then a six or seven-game series loss to Boston have Morey feeling more optimistic about a roster built around Maxey and Edgecombe? Of course, building that roster will require Morey to be creative due to the presence of Embiid and George’s hefty salaries for the next few seasons.
But we can all probably safely assume Embiid will play less than 50 regular season games a year for the rest of his career, so it just makes sense to continue to make decisions as if Embiid wasn’t around anymore. Perhaps a strong offseason from Morey maximizes Maxey and Edgecombe next season and Philly has a top four seed in the 2027 NBA Playoffs. Let’s not forget all the years the Sixers were dysfunctional around Embiid and Embiid was practically the sole reason they were a top four seed in the East. If there’s a world in which the Sixers can get back to that point with Embiid being used in a much lesser role, I’d say they’d finally be returning the favor for their former MVP.
