March 25, 2026, 1:10 p.m. ET

PHILADELPHIA –As the Philadelphia 76ers prepare to take on the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night, they will welcome some key pieces back to the lineup.

Paul George is set to play in his first game since Jan. 29 after serving his 25-game suspension for violating the league’s anti-drug policy. Joel Embiid has been upgraded to questionable as he looks to return for the first time since Feb. 26 and Quentin Grimes could return after missing Monday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder due to an illness.

As the Sixers convened for shootaround on Wednesday morning, all three were in blue jerseys which indicates that the player is in the starting unit. Of course, Embiid and Grimes are still questionable, but it looks as if the Sixers expect them to play.

“I mean, we’re just glad to have everybody—I mean, not everybody, but whoever we can get back tonight,” said Trendon Watford. “I think Jo is still questionable, but whoever we can get back tonight, we’re glad to have them back. Whether it’s P, whether it’s P, and Jo, whether it’s P, Jo and Q, we’re glad to have them all back so but we’ve been down bodies. So, glad to get everybody back.”

Of course, Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr. remain sidelined with their ailments, but the Sixers are in a good position if George and Embiid can return. Especially, George as he looks to give Philadelphia a big boost.

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“We’re glad to have him back,” Watford added of George. “We all know who he is. He was playing well before the whole situation. So we’re glad to have him back. Another body that we need. Obviously, we know what he can do on the court. It’s be fun to get them back.”

With that being said, the Sixers deserve a lot of credit for staying above water despite the adversity. They went 13-12 in the 25 games without George and Embiid missing the last 13 of those 25 games due to a right oblique strain. They are currently just a game back of the Atlanta Hawks for the final guaranteed playoff spot in the East.

“We’re just trying to keep our head above water,” Watford finished. “We know we dropped a few a while back to get us in about 9th place, but I think we’re in 7 right now. We know who we are. Obviously, we know we got a hell of a deep team. So that comes with having a deep team. When players go out, being able keep our head above water and keep going. I wouldn’t say we learned anything new about ourselves, because we knew we got a hell of a deep team.”