When Joel Embiid plays, there are few athletes on planet Earth who stand a chance against him. It's a luxury the Philadelphia 76ers continue to benefit from, with his latest performance being yet another reminder of why he's an MVP and two-time scoring champion.
On Mar. 25, Embiid dropped 35 points in 28 minutes during his first appearance since Feb. 26. Unfortunately, an agonizing question persisted: How do you build a sustainable game plan when a player as dominant as Embiid may or may not be available on any given night?
A player as great as Embiid doesn't just slot into a rotation and play as a part of a broader system. Their dominance not only forces defenses to adjust to them, but their own offense to alter its general approach in order to acquiesce to their presence.
By no means is it a bad thing to bend the system to fit around Embiid, but doing so means having to create an entirely new approach when he isn't available.
The unfortunate truth behind that statement is that Embiid has missed at least 39 games in each of the past three seasons—2025-26 included. He's been nothing short of brilliant when he's played, but his absence is about far more than just having to compensate for the loss of his immeasurable value.
The 76ers are effectively a different team when Embiid does and doesn't play, which has inevitably caused the ebbs and flows of the 2025-26 season.
Joel Embiid is dominant, but 76ers change too much based on availability
This isn't a failing on the part of Daryl Morey, as there aren't many centers who even begin to mirror Embiid's dominance. Those that are able to are playing prominent roles on other teams and thus wouldn't be willing to become a backup for the 76ers.
The unfortunate truth about the Embiid experience over the past three seasons, however, is that the 76ers have effectively reached a breaking point.
One option moving forward would be to continue to hope that Embiid will stay healthy enough that the nightly gameplan can be adhered to on a semi-consistent basis. That'd be an admittedly optimistic approach, but at nearly $62.4 million per season, it's a commitment the franchise has already made to some degree.
The other option would be to completely overhaul the 76ers' style of play and ask Embiid to fit the new approach rather than bending the system to him.
Nick Nurse has done an excellent job of embracing the need for flexibility in 2025-26, with Tyrese Maxey's emergence as an All-NBA guard undoubtedly simplifying the process. When Embiid plays, however, one can still see how the pieces around him are forced to adjust their game to fit his.
It's the inevitable outcome with any superstar, but the double-edged sword of his dominance is that unpredictable availability means uncertainty over other players' roles beyond the stars.