NBA season preview: 5 big questions for Philadelphia 76ers

2. What does Joel Embiid do without another star?

Since the start of this, it was Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons to lead this team to its next era of 76ers basketball. Markelle Fultz was already a bust and they sent him to Orlando. Now, they are going to get rid of Ben Simmons. That leaves Embiid and a bunch of quality veterans. It’s not the worst situation, but it puts the entirety of the pressure on Embiid.

Last season, when Simmons disappeared in the playoffs, Embiid was alright. Listen, Embiid wasn’t near as bad as Simmons, but if Simmons didn’t exist, there would be a lot more scrutiny coming Embiid’s way. He scored 17 points while shooting 20% in one of the losses to the Hawks. He averaged more than 30 points in the series, but his output in Game 1 and 2 wasn’t close to what it was to close out the series.

Will he be able to step up to the point that he’s the main focus of the defense every single night? He will face double teams in almost every possession. Can he score 30 points per game if every defender wants to stop him?

Embiid is an athletic marvel, and he can do things that nobody else can on the court. He just needs to do that under duress this season.