Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers are entering a new era starting with the 2024-25 season as Paul George joins Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey to help get the team over the hump in the playoffs after years of coming up short.

Speaking to reporters after Friday's practice, George explained the biggest adjustment he will make is "giving myself up for the team" with two ball-dominant players in Embiid and Maxey also on the floor.

One reason that George made so much sense for the 76ers, aside from still being a great player, is because of his experience sacrificing for the best interest of the team.

The Los Angeles Clippers acquired James Harden from the Sixers last season, giving them a ball-dominant point guard to play with George and Kawhi Leonard. George wound up playing the third wheel on offense with 16.7 shot attempts per game, his fewest in a season since 2019-20 (16.3).

Per Basketball-Reference.com, George's 26.6 percent usage rate was his third-lowest in the past 12 seasons after 2012-13 (23.5) and 2017-18 (25.7).

George's ability to adapt to whatever the circumstances are around him is one of many reasons he's been so successful with three different teams. He will look to make it a fourth when he suits up in a game with the 76ers.

Maxey is one of the most dynamic guards in the NBA with his ability to create open shots for himself with speed and change of pace. He's also improved his passing to become a true lead point guard.

Embiid just had his most efficient offensive season with a career-high 34.7 points and 5.6 assists per game. As long as he is healthy, there are few big men capable of taking over a game like he can.

George can score when he has to, hang out around the three-point line for open shots when Maxey and/or Embiid are commanding a lot of attention, and he is still a very good defensive wing capable of taking away the best scorer on opposing teams.

If everything goes as planned for the Sixers, they have the potential to be in the NBA Finals for the first time since the 2000-01 season.

Joel Embiid will be mindful of the recommendations from the team's medical staff regarding potential load management during the 2024-25 season.

The Philadelphia 76ers superstar acknowledged that he hasn't always agreed with trainers in the past, but he'll be more tolerant as he attempts to stay healthy for a possible playoff run.

"I might get mad, I might curse people out, but I think it's a relationship," Embiid said, per ESPN's Tim Bontemps. "We've been working together for years now. Now I look at the big picture, and I've always listened to them, but now it's even more of the time where I should listen and see what they have to say."

Embiid appeared in just 39 games last season, as he was out for over two months after undergoing knee surgery.

The procedure to repair a meniscus injury kept him on the bench until seven games were remaining in the regular season. While he was able to appear in all six games during Philadelphia's first-round playoff loss to the New York Knicks, he was still hampered by multiple health issues.

Embiid briefly exited the 76ers' Game 1 loss to the Knicks after appearing to hurt the same surgically repaired knee, but he was able to return before the end of the contest. He also dealt with a mild case of Bell's palsy throughout the first-round series.

His focus for the 2024-25 season is on staying healthy for the playoffs.

"As soon as we lost last year, I just texted [76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey] and I was like, 'We got to do whatever it takes to make sure that in the postseason I'm healthy.' So this year is all about [that]," Embiid said on Monday, via Bontemps.

The 30-year-old is one of the most dominant players in the association when healthy, with seven All-Star nods and an MVP under his belt. However, injuries have impacted him throughout his career. Embiid hasn't reached 70 games played in a single season since he made his debut in 2016.

With nine-time All-Star Paul George joining Embiid and Tyrese Maxey in Philadelphia, the 76ers are expected to compete with the Knicks and Boston Celtics for Eastern Conference supremacy.

As he attempts to guide his team to a long postseason run, Embiid understands that he'll need to cooperate with the team's medical staff to preserve his long-term health.

The Philadelphia 76ers have plenty of star power with Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey, but one player has stood out above the rest during training camp.

At least in the eyes of the star center.

"Probably our best player has been Jared McCain," Embiid said, per 76ers reporter Lauren Rosen.

That is quite the praise for the rookie ahead of his first season. Philadelphia selected the Duke product with the No. 16 overall pick of the 2024 NBA draft, and it surely hopes he can play his way into a significant role in the rotation in 2024-25.

On paper, McCain should fit in nicely with the rest of the 76ers.

He connected on a blistering 41.4 percent of his three-pointers during his one season at Duke and even hit eight three-pointers in one game during an NCAA tournament victory over James Madison to propel the Blue Devils to the Sweet 16.

McCain should see plenty of open looks this season when defenses collapse down on Embiid on the post or send extra help to cut off driving lanes for Maxey and George. If the rookie can consistently knock down those open shots, he will likely earn even more playing time.

It sounds like he is hitting those shots in training camp given Embiid's early comments.

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid told reporters on Monday that he's lost "25, 30 pounds" since the end of last season, but those efforts for the 2024-25 season aren't finished.

Embiid told reporters he texted president of basketball operations Daryl Morey as soon as last season ended, saying that he needed to do anything it took to be ready for the playoffs. In terms of individual awards, however, he noted that "there's no agenda."

"Basically every single year of my career, I've been hurt in the playoffs," Embiid acknowledged during his press conference Monday. "[Staying healthy] is the goal. Whatever it takes to get there... physically, I'm not where I want to be. ... Whatever it takes to get to that stage and be healthy, because I believe, with the guys that we have and what I can bring to the table, we have a pretty good chance."

There's no doubt that Embiid has emerged as one of the NBA's elite talents and big men. Among his accomplishments are a gold medal with Team USA this summer, an MVP award, two scoring titles, seven All-Star Game berths and five All-NBA selections (four on the second team, one on the first team).

He's led the Sixers to seven straight playoff appearances, but has never managed to get past the second round. Part of that has been Embiid's tendency to carry injuries into the postseason, hurting his quality of play.

Indeed, his regular season averages (27.9 PPG, 11.2 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.7 BPG, 50.4 percent from the floor) trump his playoff production (24.9 PPG, 10.9 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.7 BPG, 45.9 percent from the floor).

Expectations are high in Philadelphia, however, after the team signed Paul George, Caleb Martin, Eric Gordon, Reggie Jackson, Andre Drummond and Guerschon Yabusele in free agency, re-signed Kyle Lowry and Kelly Oubre Jr., drafted Jared McCain and inked Embiid and Tyrese Maxey to lucrative extensions.

This feels like the best-constructed roster of the Embiid era, with George and Maxey serving as the ideal archetypes to complement the big man's game. The Eastern Conference, of course, is loaded, with the defending Boston Celtics, revamped New York Knicks and the ever-present Milwaukee Bucks providing a threat.

But if Embiid can stay healthy, the Sixers will be a threat. The hope is that cutting some weight will help in that effort.

Joel Embiid will be in Philadelphia through at least 2029 after agreeing to a contract extension with the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.

Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reported Embiid signed a three-year, $192.9 million contract extension and that Embiid's career earnings now rank fourth in NBA history behind Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James, Golden State Warriors' Steph Curry and teammate Paul George. When Embiid's extension expires, he will have made $514.8 million.

Embiid had two seasons remaining on his current deal but now will have his contract situation set through his age-34 season. The lucrative deal comes after some elite production from the seven-time All-Star.

The center averaged 34.7 points, 11 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 39 games for the 76ers in 2023-24. This comes after a 2022-23 season in which he claimed his first MVP award.

He helped lead Team USA to a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics and will now hope to translate that into some team success for the 76ers.

Philadelphia has made the postseason in seven consecutive seasons but has failed to advance past the second round. With Embiid and George locked-in with big contracts, the 76ers will hope to push forward within the Eastern Conference over the next several seasons.

Having already secured long-term commitments from Paul George and Tyrese Maxey earlier this summer, the Philadelphia 76ers took care of the third member of their big three by getting an extension done with Joel Embiid.

Per The Athletic's Shams Charania, Embiid has agreed to a three-year, $193 million max extension that guarantees him $301 million over the next five seasons.

The seven-time All-Star posted a picture on Instagram of himself signing a new contract, along with a message to Sixers fans.

Since Embiid was already under contract for the next two seasons, there's no change to the 76ers' cap until the 2026-27 season. Here are the updated cap figures for the team over the next five years, per Spotrac:

• 2024-25: $181.5 million
• 2025-26: $186.7 million
• 2026-27: $172.5 million
• 2027-28: $183.1 million
• 2028-29: $115.5 million (with Embiid's $69.1 million player option)

Despite having three players on max contracts, the 76ers are still $6.2 million under the second apron going into the 2024-25 season.

This is crucial for any potential trades president of basketball operations Daryl Morey might look to make during the season because the Sixers have the ability to aggregate multiple contracts to match the contract for a single player they could bring in.

The team is projected to be over the cap for the life of Embiid's contract, but they will enter next offseason $18.6 million under the second apron.

Embiid, George, Maxey and Caleb Martin are the only players currently on the roster with guaranteed money after the 2025-26 season. Adem Bona is owed $2.3 million in 2026-27, but his salary doesn't become guaranteed until one day after the free-agent moratorium period in the summer of 2026.

All of this is to say that the Sixers are in really good shape as far as the cap is concerned, despite having three players who will account for $135.8 million next season.

There is significant risk in what the 76ers have done this offseason. Embiid has been hampered by injuries throughout his career and has struggled to carry over his performance in the regular season to the playoffs.

George, who is 34 years old, missed at least 18 regular-season games in his first four seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers. He did play 74 games last season, his most since the 2018-19 season with the Oklahoma City Thunder (77).

Having Embiid, George and Maxey under long-term contracts does give the 76ers more margin for error because if one of them suffers an injury, they still have two of them on the court together.

Embiid's ability to stay healthy, particularly in the playoffs, will likely determine the 76ers' ceiling now and in the future. They clearly believe in his ability after getting him to sign a long-term deal that will keep him in Philadelphia for up to five more years.

Joel Embiid isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

The Philadelphia 76ers superstar center revealed Friday morning on Instagram that he agreed to a contract extension with the team:

The Athletic's Shams Charania and ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported Embiid signed a three-year, $193.5 million max extension.

Charania added this will guarantee Embiid $301 million over the next five years from the Sixers.

While that figure is astronomical—especially for a player in Embiid who continues to struggle to stay healthy—it's ultimately a win for the Sixers. The 30-year-old Embiid could have chosen to see out his current contract, decline his player option for the 2026-27 season and hit free agency, where he would have been widely courted.

At this point, it does feel likely that Embiid will finish his career in Philadelphia.

The one-time MVP had an injury-plagued 2023-24 season but has become one of the most beloved athletes in the city and Sixers history, earning seven All-Star Game bids, winning two scoring titles and a first-team All-NBA nod in the 2022-23 season (to go along with four second-team selections).

Few players combine his all-around offensive game with his defensive dominance. He's one of the most talented one-on-one scorers in the league, has range out to the three-point line, has improved as a passer and serves as the team's defensive fulcrum, making him essentially the perfect center in the modern NBA.

But injuries have always been an issue, and postseason success continues to elude him and the Sixers. The hope will be that with Embiid locked into place for several more years to come, the team can finally get over that hump.

At this stage, it's essentially the only box he hasn't checked in what is shaping up to be a Hall of Fame career.

And the Sixers have perhaps never had a better shot than now after signing Paul George to a four-year, $211.5 million contract and Tyrese Maxey to a five-year, $203.8 million extension. This big three is seemingly locked into place for the foreseeable future, and it's title or bust in Philly.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker announced Wednesday that she has reached an agreement with the Philadelphia 76ers to build a new arena in Center City. This would keep the team from a rumored relocation to Camden, New Jersey.

"We are grateful to Mayor Parker and her team for their time and diligence in evaluating our proposal and look forward to advancing to the next steps with City Council," the 76ers said in a statement.

The proposed Center City location has been controversial in Philadelphia, with members of the Chinatown community concerned about the new arena's proximity to the neighborhood and the possible negative impact—from gentrification to congestion—for Chinatown residents.

"This is a blatant example of governmental malpractice, a failure on the part of the government to do its due diligence on behalf of the people of this city," Asian Americans United's Debbie Wei told Ximena Conde of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Per Conde, a number of protestors against building the new arena near Chinatown gathered outside of Philadelphia's City Hall on Wednesday.

"To the people of Chinatown, please here me," Parker said in her announcement. "I see you, I listened to you, I want your rich and vibrant community and proud history to not just survive, but to thrive. I believe we have the best Chinatown in the nation, and I am committed to working together with you to support it."

The new plans still need to be approved by Philadelphia's City Council.

The Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment group, which owns the Sixers and will self-finance the new arena, proposed a Center City arena in Philadelphia back in 2022. That effort was met with the same resistance from Chinatown residents that followed Parker's announcement on Wednesday.

But with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy reportedly endorsing a plan to have the Sixers build an arena in Camden on state-owned land, the pressure was on Philadelphia to agree with the Sixers on a deal to keep the team in the city. Parker's announcement on Wednesday brought such a deal one step closer to reality.

A Philadelphia 76ers spokesperson said the team is "seriously" considering options, including moving to New Jersey, for when their current lease at Wells Fargo Arena expires in 2031.

New Jersey state officials contacted 76ers leadership on Monday and offered team owners the opportunity to gain up to $800 million in tax credits while the officials outlined a proposal to build a mixed-use development including a new arena on state-owned land in Camden, New Jersey, per ROI-NJ and the Associated Press.

"The reality is we are running out of time to reach an agreement that will allow the 76ers to open our new home in time for the 2031-32 NBA season," spokesperson Molly Mita McEndy wrote in an email, per the Associated Press. "As a result, we must take all potential options seriously, including this one."

The 76ers have proposed building a $1.55 billion arena near Philadelphia's Chinatown neighborhood, but the project has yet to be approved by the city.

Independent consultants hired by the City of Philadelphia published impact reports on Aug. 26 expressing some hesitancy about the project, including a statement that the proposed arena "should be considered a significant potential risk to Chinatown's core identity."

The study concluded that the City Council would need to pass at least 11 bills in order for the construction of the stadium to get underway, Kristin Hunt reported for PhillyVoice.

The proposed Philadelphia arena, which is to be called "76 Place," is being funded by investment group 76DevCo, led in part by 76ers managing partners Josh Harris and David Blitzer.

The 76DevCo website states that city and state approval of construction permits is needed by 2024 in order to complete the arena project by 2031.

That timeline has apparently led the 76ers to consider other options, including the offer from New Jersey.

The office of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy offered tax credits of $400 million each for an arena and "a full-scale mixed-use component," Tom Bergeron reported for ROI-NJ.

The governor also expressed the hope of working with the state legislature to offer "$500 million of special-purpose bonds supported by fees and surcharges on tickets, concessions and parking" toward arena development, per Bergeron.

The Sixers moved the team's offices and practice facility to the Camden waterfront in 2016. The New Jersey city is approximately five miles from Philadelphia across the Delaware River.

Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the 76ers, has additional ties to the state through its ownership of the New Jersey Devils and the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

The 76ers plan to leave their current venue in order to offer fans and players an improved arena, as well as to avoid scheduling conflicts with the Philadelphia Flyers, Aaron Moselle and Kristen Mosbrucker-Garza previously reported for WHYY.

The team's lease is set to expire in 2031, by which point the stadium will no longer be called the Wells Fargo Center. The bank stated in July it would allow its naming rights deal with the Sixers and Flyers to expire in August 2025.

Philadelphia 76ers star Paul George took some issue with how Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards characterized the state of the NBA during the height of the Michael Jordan era.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal's Lane Florsheim, Edwards said that "I don't think anybody had skill back then," before clarifying Jordan "was the only one that really had skill."

Paul addressed the comments Monday on his Podcast P show.

"I get what he was trying to say," the nine-time All-Star said at the 26:50 mark. "But I don't get what he was trying to say."

George added that Edwards' opinion was "kind of disrespectful to the game" and "a very immature comment." He said younger players have a duty to pay some deference to the legends who came before them.

Edwards' remarks illustrate why comparing eras is an exercise you should avoid for the most part. It hearkens back to when JJ Redick quipped Boston Celtics legend Bob Cousy was competing against "plumbers and firemen" in the 1950s and '60s, something that didn't sit well with Hall of Famer Jerry West.

Athletes are a product of their era in a number of respects, chief among them how the sport was actually played.

In the case of the NBA during Jordan's career, the players may have looked less skilled because the game was a lot slower and more physical back then. Defenders could hand-check on the perimeter and there were bona fide enforcers sitting around the basket ready to bludgeon anybody driving to the basket. Offenses also revolved much more so around centers, which clogged the lane for athletic guards.

The league went out of its way to create a more entertaining product by eliminating hand-checking and cracking down on excessive contact. At the schematic level as well, teams eventually discovered that pushing the tempo and spacing the floor was an optimal way to play on offense.

Fast forward 10 or 20 years and the NBA will probably look a lot different from how it is now and the stars of that era will think the way Edwards plays is antiquated by comparison.