It looks like fans of the Philadelphia 76ers should be very excited about the upcoming NBA season. And it’s not just because the Sixers acquired Jaylen Brown via trade and LeBron James through free agency—a bigger reason for optimism is big man Joel Embiid, who is by all accounts coming in fit, healthy, and “extra motivated.”
“Joel is great,” said Sixers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey in an interview with ESPN on Friday morning. “This is like the first summer I think in a while that he’s been healthy, so he’s been in the gym working out. He’s been lifting weights. He’s extra motivated. He wants to play a lot of games, and he’s excited about the group we’ve built now.”
That group could be all sorts of special. James, of course, needs no introduction. Brown is a one‑time NBA Finals MVP and is regarded as among the league’s best two‑way players. They will be joining the young and dynamic backcourt of Tyrese Maxey and V.J. Edgecombe, who showed plenty of promise last season.
Embiid Is the Centerpiece
The quartet of Brown, Maxey, Edgecombe, and James is plenty good already—but with a healthy Embiid, the Sixers suddenly go from very good to potentially all‑time great.
“Any given night, anyone can be the guy,” Gansey said. “So I think sacrifice will be big for us. But Joel is arguably the best and most talented big I’ve ever been around. … He’s going to be a huge piece to our success. We have LeBron and Jaylen, but Joel’s going to be as important as those guys.”
Gansey is right. Embiid when healthy is among the very best the NBA has to offer—and his career averages of 27.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists prove as much. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to stay on the floor consistently, appearing in only 39, 19, and 38 games in his past three seasons with the Sixers.
This season, the Philly franchise is hoping that trend changes for the better.
Mapping Out Embiid’s Season
While Gansey is optimistic about Embiid, there remain no guarantees, which is likely why the Sixers brass will still plan out how and when to use their talented big.
“We’ll sit down, talk to him, talk to performance staff, talk to [coach] Nick [Nurse] and try to figure out a plan,” Gansey answered when asked about the number of games Embiid would play. “These guys want to play every game, but we got to map it out and see what’s best for him and the team.”
What’s best for Philly, of course, is for Embiid to be available as much as possible—especially in the playoffs. And now, for this season, that might actually be a possibility.
