It's only taken four games for the Philadelphia 76ers to realize that Joel Embiid is no longer the franchise player. Tyrese Maxey has put himself squarely in premature MVP discussions and VJ Edgecombe has emerged as a Rookie of the Year candidate garnering comparisons to Dwyane Wade.
By no means should the 76ers trade Embiid at this juncture, but they must embrace the need to shift from building around Embiid to simply incorporating him into their plans.
Philadelphia has spent the past 11 years building around Embiid, with seven postseason appearances to show for it. During that time, he's won an MVP award and two scoring titles while securing five All-NBA selections.
At 31 years of age, it stands to reason that Embiid still has the ability to anchor the 76ers' efforts as a dominant scorer and imposing defensive presence.
For the first time during the Embiid era, however, the 76ers have built a team that can stand on its own. Most would agree that's a positive, particularly in regard to being able to supplement Embiid's talent with a strong enough supporting cast to contend.
What Philadelphia has ultimately created, however, is a team that no longer finds itself at the mercy of Embiid's injury history and availability—meaning he's no longer the true franchise player.
76ers must continue to build a great team—with, not around, Joel Embiid
Maxey solidified his place as one of the best guards in the NBA in 2023-24, when he won the Most Improved Player award and earned his first career All-Star selection. He did so by averaging 25.9 points, 6.2 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 1.0 steal, and 3.0 three-point field goals made per game on .450/.373/.868 shooting.
More important than the accolades or statistics, however, is the fact that Maxey paced the 76ers to 47 wins despite the fact that Embiid missed 43 games that season.
Two years later, Maxey is taking his game to an entirely new level. He's scored 40-plus points in two of the first four games of the 2025-26 regular season, dropped 39 points and 10 assists in another, and had a modest 28 points and nine dimes in the lone outing during which he failed to score at least 30.
Perhaps Maxey won't sustain such a dominant level of play, but as an All-Star who's only 24 years of age and already has 41 games of postseason experience, there's reason to believe the superstar leap is legitimate.
Maxey isn't a flash in the pan who has never reached the level of a star-caliber player. He averaged 25.9 points per game in 2023-24 and 26.3 in 2024-25, and even poured in 20.3 points per contest on .481/.434/.845 shooting in 2022-23.
With three years of star-caliber play behind him and two that put him near All-NBA territory, perhaps it was only a matter of time before Maxey became a franchise player.
Tyrese Maxey has changed the dynamic of franchise player conversations
Edgecombe has taken this conversation in a shocking new direction as a player who's providing instant two-way value of his own. Philadelphia seems to now have one of the best backcourts in the NBA, with two players who can create their own shots and a 2-guard who looks the part of a potentially elite defender.
Compounded by the presence of 25-year-old wing Quentin Grimes, who's picking up where he left off after making a leap of his own in 2024-25, the 76ers have a postseason-caliber scoring trio.
With this in mind, the 76ers have every reason to believe they can build a contender around their new-look backcourt. That doesn't necessarily require factoring Embiid into the plans, either, as his injury history would be a justifiable reason to move on.
Embiid missed 43 games in 2023-24 and 63 in 2024-25. Furthermore, he's only appeared in at least 60 games in four of his nine completed seasons.
The 76ers are still better off building with Embiid than trading him, however, as he's one of the best players in the NBA when healthy. For that matter, he can still be an offensive focal point whom the system even features.
With a young core in place that appears ready to sustainably compete and ultimately contend, however, the 76ers must accept that Embiid can no longer be the player they make trades and signings to accommodate.