The Sixers will travel to Abu Dhabi for preseason games vs. the Knicks on Oct. 2 and Oct. 4. They’ll begin their regular season by facing the Celtics on Oct. 22.
Before the action commences, we’re looking at key questions for the 2025-26 Sixers.
So far, we’ve covered:
Next up: After setting the starting lineups record last year, which unit will be the Sixers’ best?
The Sixers’ lineup stats tell the story of their 2024-25 season.
Injuries were everywhere and the Sixers started an NBA-record 54 different lineups. On opening night, head coach Nick Nurse went with Tyrese Maxey, Eric Gordon, Kelly Oubre Jr., KJ Martin and Andre Drummond. He closed the season with Jared Butler, Quentin Grimes, Lonnie Walker IV, Marcus Bagley and Adem Bona.
The team’s two most-used lineups outside of garbage time played a mere 148 possessions together, according to Cleaning the Glass. They were:
- Maxey-Oubre-Paul George-Caleb Martin-Guerschon Yabusele (Plus-25.0 net rating)
- Maxey-Gordon-Oubre-Justin Edwards-Yabusele (Minus-14.4 net rating)
Nurse knows all about adjusting the basics on the fly.
“My reaction (was) the same as it’s been most of the year,” he said after a slew of players were scratched for a Jan. 14 loss to the Thunder. “You take a little gut punch, and then you regroup and figure out the starting lineups, figure out the rotations, figure out what needs to change on the game plan as quickly as possible. And go play.”
In projecting ideal, healthy scenarios for this season, restricted free agent Grimes remaining unsigned is notable. However, if we pencil Grimes back on the Sixers’ roster, he’d be a logical starter alongside Maxey, Oubre, George and Joel Embiid.
One or two of the Sixers’ young players could easily shake up that idea. Jared McCain started just eight games in his rookie season, but he obviously has the talent to thrive when handed tons of minutes. McCain averaged 23.8 points and 4.3 assists as a starter, and he shot 39.2 percent from three-point range on 9.3 attempts per game.
Perhaps a youthful role player like VJ Edgecombe or Edwards will wind up meshing nicely with the Sixers’ high-usage stars and earn a starting spot.
The Sixers could also lean into their guard-heavy nature, neglecting size at times in favor of offensive firepower and pace. The 6-foot-4 Grimes and 6-5 Edgecombe could defend bigger forwards on occasion in units with Maxey and/or McCain. Having Embiid as a rim protector would be helpful defensively in those lineups, although the Sixers could also play the shot-swatting Bona at center and encourage him to join the fun in transition offensively.
Trendon Watford has only made 30 career NBA starts, but the Sixers believe the 24-year-old forward will keep improving and he could be pressed into heavy minutes on nights without George.
Nurse will hope that he doesn’t have to scrap plan after plan, but there’s no doubt he’ll have many options in mind.
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