Everything the Sixers have done for nearly a decade has revolved around Joel Embiid. With so much uncertainty around his future, that won’t be the case much longer.
As the wise podcaster TrillBroDude once said, the Philadelphia 76ers as an organization are Joel Embiid merchants.
That is to say from the moment he stepped on the court in 2016, they’ve gone as far he’s been able to take them, and not a step further. That’s typically meant around 50 wins in the regular season and a postseason run ending in the conference semi-finals.
The first season in seven years that saw the team miss the playoffs was a direct result of Embiid being unable to stay healthy enough to consistently be in the lineup. In the 15 months since his Jonathan Kuminga fell on his leg, resulting in a meniscus tear in his left knee, Embiid has only played in 30 games.
Two surgeries later, his future is unclear as ever. Over the 19 games he was able to appear in during the 2024-25 season, he was never able to string more than four games in a row before having to sit. The last game he played on Feb. 22 saw him get benched for the fourth quarter. For the first time in his career the Sixers had a better chance to close out that game without him. They still lost 105-103 to the Brooklyn Nets in what could be their most important game of the year, depending on what happens on lottery night.
If there’s any room for optimism, Embiid’s second surgery was performed by the same doctor who operated on Kawhi Leonard. Leonard was able to turn back the clock with a ridiculous 39-point performance on just 19 shots in Game 2 against the Denver Nuggets. While he may finish his first playoff series healthy in five years, it still might not be enough to get the Clippers out of the first round.
They don’t really have a choice, but the organization is still projecting optimism for Embiid as a building block. At his exit interview, Daryl Morey said he still feels good about the core of this team, and that he expects Embiid to make a full recovery.
While no, they can’t come out and say that the former MVP will never be the same player, or that they regret extending him until 2029 for $64 million dollars last summer, the team may to have to internally except the reality that it’s time to pivot. The extension makes him virtually unmovable, but that doesn’t mean the Sixers revolve their team around the idea of MVP-level Embiid returning.
Barring a fairly unprecedented recovery, the Sixers are due for a sizable identity change. What was so jarring about watching Embiid this past season, or least his last stretch in February, was just how diminished he was defensively.
On top of the block numbers, Embiid’s been such a great defender over the course of his career because of how many players he deters from the rim altogether. Just the fear alone of attacking him has allowed the Sixers to have above-average defenses despite swapping out perimeter defenders like Ben Simmons and Matisse Thybulle for James Harden and Tyrese Maxey.
Over that eight-game stretch in February, it was disturbing just how much the Sixers drop coverage got torched. According to Cleaning the Glass, they ranked 22nd in defensive efficiency, allowing 118.9 points per 100 possessions. Opposing offenses had a 55.1 effective field goal percentage. They also rebounded 34.8% of their missed shots, which was the second highest rate of that time.
There’s no easy fix to replacing MVP-level production, but the Sixers have to do something. Step 1 needs to be getting bigger and more physical at other positions. Not only do they need more options for rim protection, but they’ve been a pretty mediocre rebounding team for some time as well.
During the Simmons era, the Sixers were always a top-11 team in opponent’s offensive rebounding percentage. They’ve only cracked the top 15 once in the four years since then. Getting bigger would be a necessity no matter what, but it’s even more important if the building blocks moving forward are Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain.
Earlier in the season, I tackled some of the changes Embiid should make to his game offensively if he is in fact physically diminished for the rest of his career. For reasons related to McCain and Maxey, I think those will be a lot easier to make.
The team has been just as, if not more dependent on his defensive ability and how much ground he’s been able to cover up for. Figuring out what life looks like after that is an extremely difficult task, but it’s time for the Sixers to get that ball rolling.