The Philadelphia 76ers have three All-Stars and good reason to believe they can compete in 2025-2026. Unfortunately, the 76ers also have two All-Stars with long histories of injuries that have already made the 2024-2025 season somewhat obsolete.
The difference between the 2025-26 and 2024-25 76ers, however, is that the existing roster would still provide plenty of reason for optimism if Joel Embiid and Paul George can’t stay healthy.
No one in their right mind would wish for such an outcome, because it is both inhumane and illogical. On that last front, Philadelphia’s best chance to contend is an MVP in Embiid and a six-time All-NBA honoree in George, along with All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey.
It is then that the depth the 76ers have acquired can shine through and provide head coach Nick Nurse with a supporting cast strong enough to give the stars a chance to lead the team to glory.
Should injuries continue to play a role in Philadelphia’s reality, not all hope would be lost. The 76ers have assembled a compelling group of promising, up-and-coming players who can give the team a shot at a postseason appearance and develop into something special in the long run.
After a year of painful inconsistency without Embiid and George, the silver lining is that the 76ers are now equipped with talent to build for the future.
76ers have overcome injuries to build a promising core of young players
Maxey is a productive 24-year-old combo guard who has already made an All-Star team. Over the past two seasons, he has compiled averages of 26.1 points, 6.1 assists, 3.5 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 3.1 three-point field goals per game: certifiable star-level production.
Maxey also has the feather in his cap for leading the 76ers to the playoffs in 2023-24 despite Embiid missing 43 games due to injury.
That alone offers reason for optimism about what the future holds for Philadelphia, regardless of how their veteran stars hold up. The 76ers have added a growing list of promising young players around Maxey, including Adem Bona, VJ Edgecombe, Justin Edwards and Quentin Grimes.
Each of these players represents a viable opportunity for the 76ers to build out their rotation with the kind of talent that can complement Embiid and George or learn to stand on their own.
76ers can build around the likes of VJ Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey
With Maxey already showing star attributes, the emerging players around him become even more intriguing. Grimes, for example, averaged 21.9 points and 4.5 assists per game in 28 appearances with the 76ers in 2024-25 and did so without a drastic increase in efficiency.
If Grimes can find even a middle ground between the 16.1 points per 36 minutes he averaged before the trade to Philadelphia and the 23.4 he posted with the 76ers, he could become a cornerstone.
Edgecombe, meanwhile, was the third overall selection in the 2025 NBA Draft – and is already justifying the hype. He’s being billed as a potential two-way force of nature, and even in summer league and preseason, he’s shown those traits.
Even Nurse is impressed with how much more capable Edgecombe is with the ball in his hands than most expected him to be. Per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer:
“I think we thought, ‘Okay, maybe he can play ball a little bit,’ and we talked about, ‘Let’s do it in summer league,’” coach Nick Nurse said after a 126-110 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the preseason finale. “But where we are now, I think he’s way ahead of where we thought he could be because he can do that.”
If Bona and Edwards build on successful rookie seasons, and Edgecombe and Grimes continue on the path they appear to be on, the 76ers would have an exciting young core led by an All-Star in Maxey.
The obvious goal is for Embiid and George to stay healthy, but even they should benefit from an improved supporting cast flush with promising emerging players.
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