The buzz word around the Philadelphia 76ers this season will be "sacrifice." With LeBron James and Jaylen Brown joining a star-studded lineup that already included Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and reigning No. 3 overall pick VJ Edgecombe, everyone will need to eat a slice of humble pie and find ways to fit in, rather than stand out.
That's not to say there won't be games where each star can take center stage. Some matchups will favor Embiid in the post. Others will allow Brown to hunt mismatches on the perimeter. Some nights, Maxey's speed and shooting will carry Philadelphia. LeBron and Edgecombe will get their punches in, too. But rather than viewing this experiment as three potential 30-point scorers, Philadelphia will probably have four 20ish-point scorers — with an emphasis on everybody defending and connecting at higher levels than ever before. Let's try to roughly outline the potential stats for all five starters:
Tyrese Maxey
- MIN: 33.0
- PTS: 23.5
- REB: 4.0
- AST: 5.0
- STL: 2.0
- BLK: 0.5
Maxey led the NBA in minutes with 38.0 per game last season, taking on elevated on-ball responsibilities in the process. Given the frequent absences of Joel Embiid and Paul George in recent years, Philadelphia has basically run Maxey into the ground. He more than did his job last season, earning third team All-NBA honors, but the cracks began to show when the Knicks swept Philly out of the second round.
Philadelphia needed Maxey to run the show, but he has always been more effective — more comfortable — in a secondary role, bombing spot-up 3s and attacking off the catch with the NBA's most electric first step. Getting him off the ball again, more akin to the role he had when James Harden was his running mate, should benefit Maxey a ton.
How exactly Philadelphia staggers its stars will be fascinating to monitor. There are so many potential combos and styles. It will be a season of experimentation for Nick Nurse, but my gut says Maxey and Embiid should remain joined at the hip, while LeBron James can probably help Jaylen Brown the most of anybody on the roster. That said, we should get plenty of LeBron-Maxey lineups, too. Especially when Embiid inevitably misses time. Beyond their strong personal connection, we've seen what LeBron can do for talented scoring guards in Maxey's vein before.
Maxey will probably sacrifice the most from a pure production standpoint — he averaged a career-high 28.3 points and 6.6 assists last season — but he should be more efficient and more spry, ideally with more energy to commit on the defensive end, where he has made significant strides in recent years. If Maxey posts career-best steal numbers, hits 40 percent of his 3s and finds a groove wheeling around screens and attacking seams in the defense while Embiid, Brown and James command double teams, Philadelphia will be on the right track.
VJ Edgecombe
- MIN: 35.0
- PTS: 14.5
- REB: 5.0
- AST: 3.0
- STL: 1.5
- BLK: 0.5
Much has been made of VJ Edgecombe's diminished stature going into year two. He made so many strides as a ball-handler and shot creator last season. Even if it was never fully a strength, Edgecombe would have games where he popped off and basically led the charge in crunch time. He won't get to explore and expand so much this season, but to act like he is suddenly an afterthought — or that learning from LeBron James for a year or two somehow harms his development — is a bit silly.
Edgecombe will still clean up on backdoor cuts and putbacks. LeBron will feed him plenty of open 3s as defenses collapse on Philadelphia's more established stars. Most nights, Edgecombe will have the opponent's weakest defender on him for extended stretches. He was Philadelphia's No. 2 scorer, a viable No. 2 scorer, for much of last season. He is going to torch favorable matchups.
The focus for Edgecombe this season, however, will be defense. Philadelphia needs him to handle tough assignments and create turnovers, now more than ever. Motor, technique and athleticism on the defensive end are never a problem for Edgecombe, but he won't have the likes of Paul George or Kelly Oubre to share in the burdens of perimeter defense this season (although Dean Wade should get plenty of run off the bench).
Expect the surface stats to diminish somewhat, but Edgecombe is still most comfortable in a complementary, connective role, so it's not like the Sixers are asking him to abandon his strengths. Of note: do not be shocked if Edgecombe, with his fresh legs, leads Philly in minutes next season.
Jaylen Brown
- MIN: 33.0
- PTS: 26.0
- REB: 6.5
- AST: 4.0
- STL: 1.0
- BLK: 0.5
What a fascinating turn of events for Jaylen Brown. The conversation all summer was "he wants his own team," only to end up on the most stacked roster in the Eastern Conference. Now, some of the narrative threads being spun around Brown were blatantly false or at least willfully misleading. At no point did he request a trade out of Boston. If anything, he felt he deserved more respect from the Celtics organization, not necessarily free reign over the offense.
Since the trade, Brown has said all the right things, including that it "doesn't have to be anybody's team." And he's correct. The Sixers, when healthy, should have a favorable matchup somewhere on the floor every night. Whether it's Brown, Embiid, Maxey, Edgecombe or James — well, it depends on the opponent. There will be nights where Brown gets to eat, while other nights he might feel like more of a third wheel to the Maxey two-man dance with Embiid or James. So long as Brown is happy to pick and choose his spots on nights when he is not the focal point by design, this experiment should run smoothly (at least as far as Philadelphia's offense is concerned).
Paul George was underrated by the end of his Sixers tenure, but we don't need to pretend like Philly secretly got the worse player. Brown is not on George's level as a defender, but he's not a pushover on that end either. He is also, historically, very durable. Injuries can come out of nowhere, but Brown can shoulder heavy minutes and heavy usage with aplomb. Some of the turnover and efficiency concerns that plagued Brown in Boston (while he still led the Celtics to 56 wins) should be diminished in Philadelphia. LeBron can find him in favorable spots; he can run DHOs with Embiid, work two-man actions with Maxey, and find creative ways to gain the advantage without simply jab-stepping and driving into traffic.
That's not to say Brown won't lead the Sixers in scoring (depending on Embiid's health and usage, he's arguably the favorite). He's probably the go-to, from-scratch scorer late in games. If or when injuries strike, Brown's ability to put the offense on his back for a game will come in quite handy. But, he will also get to scale down compared to his outsized role in Boston last season, which should hopefully amplify strengths and mitigate weaknesses.
LeBron James
- MIN: 31.0
- PTS: 17.0
- REB: 7.5
- AST: 9.5
- STL: 1.0
- BLK: 0.5
LeBron James will be entering his 24th NBA season. The NBA's all-time leading scorer, he has never averaged fewer than 20 points per game. That probably changes in Philadelphia, as James is entering the fifth and presumably final chapter of a storied career. He picked the Sixers because he wants to win, yes. But he could've competed in Los Angeles with a healthy Luka Dončić. He could've probably found a happy home in Miami, as the No. 2 to Giannis Antetokounmpo. But he went to Philadelphia because he's willing to sacrifice. At least, that's the assumption.
Nick Nurse has already said James will run point for the Sixers, which makes sense. Not only did he win a championship as the de facto point guard in L.A., but James is really the only advanced passer on Philadelphia's roster. Maxey has improved his point guard skills over the years, but he was never a natural facilitator. Brown, too, can pass, but he has never really been one to elevate the teammates around him.
James will serve as the firestarter for what promises to be the NBA's most dominant transition offense. Brown and Maxey straight-up might be the most prolific and effective fast-break scorers in the league. Edgecombe is a blur in the open court and loves to play fast. LeBron can jack up the tempo and get the Sixers' offense flowing. In the halfcourt, Embiid has never known a better entry passer, which is underrated in all this. Embiid has labored so hard to get to his spots and create offense in the past. James can help ease him into points.
LeBron's scoring has already diminished naturally in these later years. Transitioning into more of a pass-first facilitator role, or working more as a short roll passer a la his good friend Draymond Green, feels like the natural next step. People won't be ~Normal Online~ if LeBron averages less than 20 points per game, but the Sixers won't care because he can still drive winning.
Joel Embiid
- MIN: 28.0
- PTS: 24.0
- REB: 8.0
- AST: 4.0
- STL: 0.5
- BLK: 1.5
Embiid is the biggest wild card. The Sixers are a very dangerous offensive team without Embiid and clear favorites to win it all if Embiid is operating anywhere close to full power. Embiid has not reached "anywhere close to full power" in years, at least not for an extended period of time, but his healthy offseason has rekindled some hope. He did also lead a 3-1 comeback against the Celtics in the postseason, lest we forget. Even half-speed, post-appendectomy Embiid is better than most.
There's no way the Sixers can get Embiid on the floor at maximum strength for 70-plus games and 16-plus playoff games — let's not traffic in fantasy — but Philadelphia can more closely manage Embiid's minutes now. He hasn't been held below 30 minutes per game since COVID, which is especially nuts when one considers that Victor Wembanyama, all of 22 years old, did not eclipse 30 minutes per game last season. He finished third in MVP voting and the Spurs went to the Finals.
For so long, Embiid has been the lifeblood of Philadelphia's success on both ends. Historically, the Sixers just sort of fall apart when Embiid sits. That was less the case last season, as Maxey ascended. Factor in the arrivals of Brown and James, plus a potential leap from Edgecombe (plus Anfernee Simons, Dean Wade and some real bench depth), and the Sixers are finally built to succeed with or without Embiid.
Philadelphia will be shorthanded at one point or another, of course, but it will be fascinating to see how Embiid's role changes with this new talent influx. Even last season, with Maxey near the top of the NBA scoring leaderboard, the offense very much flowed through Embiid. That may still be the case, for all we know. He is one of the most dominant individual scorers in NBA history — the all-time leader in points per minute played (0.87). Embiid creates such a crisis for opposing defenses. He draws automatic double teams in the post. That should open up easy kick-outs to Brown, Maxey and Edgecombe, who can shoot or attack with the defense in rotation. If defenses decide to stay home on Philly's perimeter stars, Embiid iso'd in the post against most NBA centers is the easiest 30-plus points, 10-plus foul shots in the world.
There's a world in which Embiid is Philly's leading scorer and primary option, even after all these years. More likely, however, is Embiid embracing a more complementary and less taxing role. He's a very good passer these days, while his ability to space the floor is especially valuable to this roster. Brown lives at the elbow and in the paint, where Embiid has dwelled for so long. Stepping out behind the 3-point line and taking the opposing center with him will make Philly's collection of perimeter athletes infinitely more difficult to contain.
Embiid is still going to score a lot of points when healthy, while Philadelphia's other stars will step in to fill the void whenever he misses time. But this season will probably feature the least involved version of Embiid yet, which is for the better.
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