LAS VEGAS — The Philadelphia 76ers are heading into the 2025-26 season relying on their stars Joel Embiid and Paul George to lead the way for this group. The Sixers were unable to see the vision in a 24-58 season in 2024-25 as Embiid was limited to just 19 games while George only played 41.
As Philadelphia forges ahead in an Eastern Conference that figures to be wide-open in 2026 with all of the injuries around the conference, the Sixers are hoping that they get some good fortune for once when it comes to the injury bug.
President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey is hoping that his stars will be ready to go in the coming season as the expectation is that George and Embiid will be ready for training camp.
“First and foremost, he’s (Embiid) one of our defensive anchors, and of the better defensive players,” Morey stated. “Paul in our opinion, he had a down shooting year, which everything we would expect that will come back as he gets more open looks, and then just all the open looks he hits–some things I’m worried about. The one thing I’m not worried about is Paul George making shots next season, and then he also gives us a lot of connective passing and things like that, we expect him to play at a high level and be right there with Tyrese (Maxey) as one of our top 3 guys.”
George did have a down shooting year in 2024-25. In the 41 games he was able to play in, he shot only 43% from the floor and 35.8% from deep. As he prepares for his 16th season in the league, one has to believe he will bounce back. He’s too good a player not to. Morey is very confident in all of that.
“He’s really excited to get back out there,” Morey added on George. “I know he really wants to show the Philadelphia fans what he can do. He didn’t feel like he was able to do that last year, so I know he’s very optimistic and excited to get out there and show what he can do.”
The 2025-26 season is a great opportunity for Philadelphia to bounce back if everybody on the roster is healthy and ready to go. This is as talented a group as anybody in the East, but it will come down to Embiid and George. While the rest of the roster is talented, Philadelphia has hitched its hopes to the two stars.
“I think for us to be a championship team, we need all three of our key guys healthy,” Morey finished. “I don’t think we can do it without that. I would like to say that, but I don’t see it. So, yeah, I do think we’re very dependent on all those guys, including Joel.”