The 2025-26 season is quickly approaching for the Philadelphia 76ers as they look to put a miserable 24-58 season behind them. The Sixers will hope for better health in the coming season as their Big 3 of Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey were only able to play a grand total of 18 games together–finishing only 15 in the 2024-25 season.

It’s now time to look ahead to the new season and time to break down each position for the Sixers in an effort to preview what the season might look like. Sixers Wire will look at the centers now and take a look at what the Sixers bring to the table at the position:

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Starter: Joel Embiid

Everything begins and ends with Embiid. The health and status of the big fella is going to decide how far Philadelphia goes and that was obvious when he played only 19 games in 2024-25 and the Sixers struggled. He averaged 23.8 points in those 19 games, but shot only 44.4% from the floor, 29.9% from deep, and averaged only 7.8 free throw attempts. Those are not Embiid-like numbers. He has to be 100% healthy for Philadelphia to have a chance at contention.

It is fair to wonder how much Embiid has left. While he is only 31 years old, this is now two knee surgeries in 14 months he is trying to work and recover from. While on one hand, he has proven he can do anything in his career and there is some reason for optimism, on the other hand, he is a human being–a large one at that–and it’s fair to wonder if he will ever be the same player again. The Sixers have to hope he can.

Depth behind Embiid

There are a number of options for the Sixers to turn to behind Embiid. The obvious one right now is Andre Drummond who is a 2-time All-Star and a guy the Sixers can count on to be productive and pull down important rebounds. Then there’s second-year big man Adem Bona who was thrust into action as a rookie and seems primed to have an opportunity to seize the backup role behind Embiid.

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Other options include two-way big men Jabari Walker and Dominick Barlow. The Sixers got Walker on a steal as he is somebody who produced solid numbers in his three seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers and Barlow has experience with the San Antonio Spurs and the Atlanta Hawks. Either guy can help right away and the Sixers should feel lucky they have both on two-way deals.

This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: 2025-26 Philadelphia 76ers positional preview: Joel Embiid, centers