How are we feeling?

[Kobblehead]

In terms of the direction of the franchise, how are we feeling?

[Negrodamus]

I feel pretty good, tbh. I loved the McCain and Bona picks last year. Feel like McCain is going to be a force in the league in time. I was bullish on VJ throughout the season and he was definitely in my top 5 by season's end. Maxey is, of course, a star in the league. I think PG will play way better this year now that he's healthy.

The questions about Embiid's knee and longevity obviously sucks, but our current situation is intriguing, to me at least. If he's not healthy, his contract will be an issue, but we currently don't have next year's pick, we have a lot of fun, young talent, we possibly have Grimes coming back on a team friendly deal. I think we could be a playoff team with Bona at C and inundating the other teams with 3pt shooting. The final piece in the new wave of guys that could push us over the edge would be a stud stretch PF.

[FireMorey]

Ask me when we see how Embiid looks on a basketball court. And that we won't know until October(hopefully October). If for some reason he's not available to play the season opener then we'll have our answer.

[ProcessDoctor]

The bold move that should've happened last summer hasn't happened yet.

Otherwise, I love our recent draft picks and am happy with the assets we have moving forward.

[the_process]

Firmly in the wait and see crowd. Lots of questions going forward here.

[mjkvol]

My 'wait and see' would change to 'optimistic' if I was convinced that Morey will stick with the emphasis on youth and transition out of Embiid/George ASAP. I love the VJ pick and believe he and Maxey can develop into a killer backcourt, and I like some of the recent signings of young guys with something to prove.

I have zero expectations with regard to results this year, just want to see our kids play a lot and develop a solid culture here and move off the vets as the opportunities arise.

[youngcrev]

Reasonably good.

I think Maxey has kind of taken the mantle as franchise leader. You've got a trio of talented young guards that seem to have the personality and work ethic to be culture setters for the team (for all of Jo's talent, he always lacked in that area). Wait and see mode whether any of those 3 can be franchise player level talents, which in my only hangup there.

And on the off chance Joel can actually get healthy to some extent and get back to reasonable facsimile of himself, you can go add a deadline piece and have the talent in place to be have a shot at making a run in the East.

[TYO23]

Reasonably okay. We have some good young talent and who knows what will happen with the max guys.

[FlyingArrow]

Pessimistic, but that's mostly based on health.

As much as some people want the Embiid era to be over, it isn't. Or, at least, we don't know that it is. If it is, we are likely to be in mid-league purgatory for a long time. If it's not, then it's another year of hoping for health.

The Process worked. It's nearly impossible to seriously contend in this league without a top-level talent. We got enough draft picks to take enough shots near the top of the draft that we hit on Embiid. We had so many draft picks and had so many shots that we should have hit more than once, but we got an MVP out of The Process. We were able to contend with him, but we have never been able to put it together in terms of health or bench or both.

If Embiid comes back at all-star level (not MVP level), and if the roster is healthy then I'm optimistic about our chances. I'm not optimistic about our health. McCain, Maxey, PG, Embiid, and now VJ. They've all been hurt. We need them all to be healthy in the playoffs. What are the chances that none of them miss any playoff games for injuries? Those are close to our chances of winning a championship.

They were literally all injured this year. That worked out for our draft results. What are the chances that they are all injured again for half the season? We seem destined to be injured enough to not contend in the near future, and not injured enough to have a reasonable chance at a top draft pick again in the near future. Hope for the Clippers to fall apart, I guess.

VJ is young enough that we can dream about him being an All-NBA First Team talent someday, but for Maxey and McCain, it seems unlikely. All-star? Sure. Maybe a season or two of sneaking onto the 3rd team. We have a solid group of young talent. Solid enough to keep us out of the lottery, or at least out of winning the lottery. But not a championship. I hope they prove me wrong, and they take the league by storm.

[Mik317]

thats my secret captain....I am always pessimistic

but no just feels like we are waiting for a slow death atm. Last offseason really feels like the end of the road....I was against it heavy but they needed it to work out and it didn't and now we simply lack ammo to make moves and what ammo we do have probably shouldn't be used to "fix" this. Just overall stuck unless Biid has some MVP juice left or Maxey or McCain takes a major leap or VJ is the next MJ lol. VJ does give us some light at the end of the tunnel energy so its not all bad...I feel like his athletic tools makes his upside higher than say McCain or even Maxey so there is that...but thats not something you really see this year more than likely...so it remains that this year and next we are still in hoping that Biid's body finally has mercy on him and doesn't fall apart mode...which becomes less likely every year that passes.

BUT as with every year of Biid's career...there is a chance and with the weaker east (which I think may be oversold as there is always a couple of teams that become legit out of nowhere)...I get taking a shot at it.

BUT BUT that makes the offseason even more annoying. Morey has been a very lazy FO lead. I get it...not a lot of ammo and cap space and aprons and all that jazz....but great GMs overcome that **** all the time. Morey every offseason "has his hands tied doe" and its annoying as ****...then other gms trade **** contracts for actual players every year. Sat on Tobias' contract for his entire tenure ffs...and then his big pivot was to overpay PG. I question his vision even if some moves I like(d). I like him going younger overall but bringing back all the olds knowing Nurse will play them feels like an own goal waiting to happen.

So yeah I think this season will be like last season but at least we have an actual prospect to overhype for a bit

[Embiid P]

thats my secret captain....I am always pessimistic

but no just feels like we are waiting for a slow death atm. Last offseason really feels like the end of the road....I was against it heavy but they needed it to work out and it didn't and now we simply lack ammo to make moves and what ammo we do have probably shouldn't be used to "fix" this. Just overall stuck unless Biid has some MVP juice left or Maxey or McCain takes a major leap or VJ is the next MJ lol. VJ does give us some light at the end of the tunnel energy so its not all bad...I feel like his athletic tools makes his upside higher than say McCain or even Maxey so there is that...but thats not something you really see this year more than likely...so it remains that this year and next we are still in hoping that Biid's body finally has mercy on him and doesn't fall apart mode...which becomes less likely every year that passes.

BUT as with every year of Biid's career...there is a chance and with the weaker east (which I think may be oversold as there is always a couple of teams that become legit out of nowhere)...I get taking a shot at it.

BUT BUT that makes the offseason even more annoying. Morey has been a very lazy FO lead. I get it...not a lot of ammo and cap space and aprons and all that jazz....but great GMs overcome that **** all the time. Morey every offseason "has his hands tied doe" and its annoying as ****...then other gms trade **** contracts for actual players every year. Sat on Tobias' contract for his entire tenure ffs...and then his big pivot was to overpay PG. I question his vision even if some moves I like(d). I like him going younger overall but bringing back all the olds knowing Nurse will play them feels like an own goal waiting to happen.

So yeah I think this season will be like last season but at least we have an actual prospect to overhype for a bit

I generally agree. Morey is not an aggressive GM by any means. This isn't always a bad thing as we don't want him making moves just for the sake of making moves but at the same time, like you said great GMs will always find a way to unload bad contracts and still somehow manage to acquire equal or better value for them. The only major trades he makes are when his hand is forced i.e. the Simmons and Harden situations. The only time he is really aggressive is when it comes to acquiring star players whether they are still in their prime or past their prime.

[okboomer]

I wanted Joel traded after his disappearing act in games 6 and 7 against Boston. That being written, Ive been very high on VJ this entire process. This season should be about getting him reps as the lead ball handler.

[Jailblazers7]

Overall I’m optimistic. I think this will be the year we actually transition to Maxey as the engine of the team. Our roster decisions, play style, and culture will start to take shape around him and that excites me.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

I'm interested to see where things go between Maxey, McCain, and Edgecombe. I watched the little interview they did between both McCain and Edgecombe and despite McCain smiling and VJ saying all the right things, there is some fierce competitiveness brewing between the two of them. VJ strikes me as the type of guy that feels and knows he's the best player in the gym even when he isn't. That type of competitive fire has been lacking the entire time Joel Embiid has been a Sixer. I think we're witnessing a shift in identity and it'll progress as the season goes on. By April 2026 we'll know exactly where things are headed with this roster. I think this is Embiids last stand as a Sixer. I think Paul George will fade into obscurity. The bad part is we're stuck with both of them, so the only hope is that they get healthy, rebound, and play decent enough to keep us competitive while Edgecombe, Maxey, and McCain transition into the leaders of this team. Ultimately, it'll be VJs team. You can clearly tell that he's got the personality to be him.

[HotelVitale]

If anyone's soul needs some cleansing, here you go, I've watched all 16 minutes over last couple days. This was all just one month, he's legit really good.

Watch on YouTube

[Negrodamus]

If anyone's soul needs some cleansing, here you go, I've watched all 16 minutes over last couple days. This was all just one month, he's legit really good.

Watch on YouTube

He and VJ are going to be so good together. Two guys who find space to get themselves open while possessing the ability to create off the dribble. I’m so excited for that duo.

[SixthStreet]

I feel great actually. Don’t really like the Edgecombe pick. Really wanted Tre and haven’t changed my mind, but we are well positioned to pivot based on Embiid’s knee. We could move Grimes for a win now 4 if Embiid proves healthy or we have a lot of young talent and a pretty good salary situation outside of Embiid if we need to retool around Maxey. George should be tradeable in that scenario after this upcoming season.

I’m pretty stoked and would only be concerned if ownership scapegoated Morey. He’s killed it in the draft and on the margins on the roster and he’s kept the Clippers picks and has been disciplined contractually. He should lead us into the pivot if that ends up being the case.

[76ciology]

Given the current landscape of the NBA, the formula for me is simply just strong guard depth, plus a group of guys who defend, create extra possessions, and space the floor at the other positions from Paul George, Oubre, Walker, Watford, Bona, Drummond and maybe Barlow and Broome, for me fits that archetype.

If Maxey, Grimes, McCain, Paul George or VJ can emerge as a reliable go-to option, at least at the Pascal Siakam level (20ppg?), we’ll be in a strong position even without Embiid.

[MVP1992]

Medium to long term optimistic.

The next 2 seasons not so much.
Having about 110m in cap taken up by Embiid and PG from now on is a black cloud.
Stating the obvious:
If either of these two don't perform as advertised throughout the season and all of the play-offs then I feel it's treadmill territory and looking forward to our own 2027 draft pick and LAC pick in 2028.

Imagine being in Maxey’s shoes...waiting for the inevitable...possibly 2 more years of PG then a player option and 3 more of broken Embiid with a player option.
His prime.

We're going to need half of PG'S salary just to pay McCain.

Let's be honest, if just one of Embiid or PG comes back this year and look healthy, play 75% of games up until the trade deadline: Do you try and trade the healthy one or think this year is the last dance and go for it, with one max contract being dead weight?

Will no Embiid and a healthy PG giving us 25/5/5 get it done?

Does a 75% Embiid & 75% PG and this supporting cast get it done?

[mjkvol]

I think this is Embiids last stand as a Sixer. I think Paul George will fade into obscurity. The bad part is we're stuck with both of them, so the only hope is that they get healthy, rebound, and play decent enough to keep us competitive while Edgecombe, Maxey, and McCain transition into the leaders of this team.

To me the only hope is Embiid and George get healthy and play well enough to attract some interest at the trade deadline. This season will be a success if even one of them is gone before it's over, and a home run if both are somehow moved and bring some draft capital back, regardless of how the team actually ends up. I don't want to be stuck with both until the young guys here are due to be paid, or we are going straight from the frying pan into the fire.