76ers Nightly

Jaylen Brown and LeBron James are both on the roster now. Last season Brown averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 71 games. His +/- of 4.5 was the best among the team's top players. James, 41 and in his 23rd season, averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists in 60 games last season. Those numbers sit next to Tyrese Maxey's 28.3 points and 6.6 assists last season. Joel Embiid averaged 26.9 points and 7.7 rebounds last season but played only 38 games. That makes four players who averaged at least 20 points last season. The question is how the ball gets shared. Maxey played 38.0 minutes a night last season. That number will probably come down with this much help around him.

VJ Edgecombe is back after a strong first season. He averaged 16.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 75 games last season, the most games of anyone on the team. Anfernee Simons gives the team shooting. He hit 38.5 percent from three last season and scored 14.3 points in 24.9 minutes. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, 33, averaged 8.4 points in 51 games last season. Caleb Love scored 10.4 points in 20.7 minutes. Both had negative plus-minus numbers last season, at -2.2 and -2.6. Justin Edwards, Rayan Rupert, Jabari Walker and Adem Bona fill out the wing and frontcourt depth. Labaron Philon Jr., 20, is the only rookie on the roster.

Philadelphia opens short on bigs. Dominick Barlow has a back injury and will miss at least two weeks. His estimated return is Nov. 2. Barlow played 71 games last season and averaged 23.8 minutes, so his rotation spot is open. Tacko Fall is out with a left quadriceps injury, with an estimated return of Oct. 24. Per Shams Charania, the Sixers converted Fall to a two-way contract. Ariel Hukporti has a right Achilles injury, and his estimated return is Oct. 1, 2027, which takes him out for the season. Dean Wade is day-to-day with an ankle injury and is targeting tonight. Wade averaged 22.3 minutes and shot 36.2 percent from three last season. With Embiid, Bona and Wade, the center minutes are thin to start.

The roster turned over a lot since last season. Paul George is now with Boston. Kelly Oubre Jr. went to Indiana. Quentin Grimes is with the Lakers. Andre Drummond signed with New York, and Trendon Watford is in New Orleans. Tyrese Martin and MarJon Beauchamp are unsigned. Losing Drummond hurts the most right now, with Barlow, Fall and Hukporti all hurt. Oubre and George were wing pieces. Brown and James replace them with more scoring. You can see the volume of moves in the October transaction wire, which included a round of minor Sixers moves on Oct. 16.

Philadelphia went 2-3 in five games before tonight's opener. It beat New York twice, 120-97 at home on Oct. 5 and 106-100 on the road on Oct. 20. It lost at Brooklyn 114-108 and dropped two games to Boston. The 144-106 loss in Boston on Oct. 10 was the worst result of the month. The home game against the Celtics on Oct. 16 was closer, a 125-120 loss. Last season the Sixers posted a 114.3 offensive rating and a 114.4 defensive rating, for a net rating of -0.1. They played at a 100.4 pace and scored 115.9 points per game. A 45-37 team with a net rating near zero added Brown and James. The defense is the part to watch.