No matter what the Philadelphia 76ers build in 2024-25, it will immediately be restructured once Joel Embiid returns to the rotation. It's the quietly haunting truth that's due to act as something of a cloud hanging over Philadelphia's head.
Sustainable progress can still be made in some regards, but the 76ers are effectively in a holding pattern until one of the most dominant players in the NBA returns.
Embiid underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Apr. 11, thus putting an official end to one of the most frustrating seasons of his career. He appeared in just 19 games for the 76ers, thus continuing a concerning trend after he played a mere 39 in 2023-24.
With 58 games played since he won his first career MVP award in 2022-23, Embiid has become as much of a question mark as he has a force of nature.
Philadelphia overcame his absence in 2023-24, winning 47 games behind Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris, and Kelly Oubre Jr.—all of whom made at least 68 appearances. No one was safe from the injury bug in 2024-25, however, as Ricky Council IV and Guerschon Yabusele were the only players who appeared in more than 60 outings.
With Council and Yabusele signing elsewhere and uncertainty surrounding the currently healthy players, the 76ers need to establish roles that will instantly change once Embiid returns.
76ers will have to change key players' roles as soon as Joel Embiid returns
Embiid is an adaptable player whose skill set allows him to complement any number of different players and styles of play. The inherent truth of having him on the court, however, is that he will command a significant number of touches—and everyone around him will have to adjust to his high-usage approach.
Embiid has posted a usage rate of 34.2 or higher in each of the past five seasons, and exceeded 37.0 in every campaign between 2021-22 and 2023-24.
As such, anything that the healthy contributors manage to showcase without Embiid will need to be adapted to a system that focuses on getting him the ball. It's been proven in the past that players can excel in such an environment, whether they're a star or otherwise.
That's true on every front from Tobias Harris, Tyrese Maxey, and Ben Simmons to Robert Covington, Shake Milton, and JJ Redick.
The 76ers have undergone drastic changes over the past two years, however, and a vast majority of the players on the current roster have little-to-no experience playing alongside Embiid. That includes nine-time All-Star Paul George, breakout wing Quentin Grimes, and lottery pick V.J. Edgecombe.
Without a timetable for his return, the process of building around Embiid is thus complicated by the simple fact that the healthy players will develop chemistry and then completely restructure their approach.
The optimistic view is that the 76ers will have a unique opportunity to discover their players' strengths and weaknesses with an inevitable increase in volume. The harsh reality remains, however, that a player who excels with more touches might not experience the same success once Embiid returns.
That makes Embiid's return date and the 2026 NBA trade deadline the two events that will define yet another 76ers season.