NBA playoffs 2026: Where do the 76ers go from here?

Another season, another late-year issue for Joel Embiid.

The center was recently diagnosed with an appendicitis, continuing an unfortunate trend of him running into medical issues or injuries leading into the postseason, where this time the Philadelphia 76ers play host to the Orlando Magic in the play-in tournament Wednesday night (7:30 p.m. ET, Prime).

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It’s not fair to Embiid or the 76ers to list all that has gone wrong, as that will distract from the larger point, but the question must be asked:

Are the Sixers on a path to anywhere?

Savings and big-game hunting

The organization is one of contrasts and conflicting actions.

On the one hand, the 76ers will happily offer a then-34-year-old Paul George the full four-year max, despite little to no competition at that price point.

On the other hand, they’ll trade Jared McCain, who was perhaps on his way to winning Rookie of the Year last season before an injury removed him from the equation, to get under the luxury-tax limit and save a buck.

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They swing big but scale back in the margins, which — historically speaking — leads back to an ownership group that struggles to choose a path.

Let’s dial it back to the George signing. At the time, the idea was simple: build a big three around Embiid, George and Tyrese Maxey. They might have overestimated George’s value and drastically overpaid, but the idea at least had some merit.

Whenever a team decides on such a path, it’s only reasonable to expect a willingness to spend further by rounding out the roster with quality role players and accept that the tax will be a part of the immediate future.

Yet this is where the Sixers differ.

Despite allocating an enormous percentage of the cap for three stars, they sacrificed depth by insisting on scaling back on spending.

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This season proved just how big of an emphasis that is for team owner Josh Harris, with the McCain trade underlining the issue.

McCain was shipped to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the best team in the league, with the primary objective of ducking the tax.

Now, some will make the fair counter-argument that the trade became significantly more…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/nba-playoffs-2026-where-do-the-76ers-go-from-here-152907036.html

Author : Morten Stig Jensen

Publish date : 2026-04-15 15:29:00

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