The Big Question: Is This Core Built to Win, or Just Built…

By the 76ers Nightly Desk · Tuesday, October 6

Philadelphia opened preseason with a 120-97 win over the Knicks, bench outscoring starters 77-43, but Ariel Hukporti left early with a right leg injury. The real question for 2026-27 isn't one preseason box score — it's whether a four-star, over-apron core can stay healthy long enough to matter in May.

76ers Nightly artwork — Illustration by Hoops Nightly.

Is this core even built to survive camp, let alone May?

Embiid played only 38 games last season, and James turns 41 in December. Camp has already cost Adem Bona Day-To-Day time since September 17, kept Tacko Fall bouncing between Out and Day-To-Day, and sent Ariel Hukporti for imaging on his right Achilles, per Hoops Rumors. That's the same injury math that produced a -0.1 net rating last season. Health, not talent, decides this one.

Does the Brown trade actually fix what broke last season?

Philadelphia finished 18th in net rating at -0.1 last season, then traded Paul George plus four draft picks for Jaylen Brown, who scored 22 points on 8-for-13 shooting in his Sixers debut. That's one preseason half, not a body of work. The trade pushed payroll to $213.2 million, above the $200.4 million tax line and the $209.0 million first apron, with no room left behind Embiid, Maxey, Brown and James.

Can a 77-point bench night mean anything in October?

Dillon Jones, Caleb Love and Saint Thomas led a bench that outscored the Sixers' own starters 77-43 in the opener, while Embiid, Maxey and James sat out entirely and Simons and Bona weren't close to playing either. A 120-97 win with five regulars in street clothes says something about depth, not about this team's ceiling. The real roster hasn't taken the court yet.

Did the Lowry, Beauchamp and Martin exits leave a real hole?

Kyle Lowry, MarJon Beauchamp and Tyrese Martin all left the team on September 21, and nothing has replaced them. VJ Edgecombe, Caleb Love and Labaron Philon are the answer by default — Edgecombe already has seven assists in the opener, but he's 21 with one season on his resume. If a starter misses time, the depth behind him is unproven, not deep.

What does the front office have left to fix mistakes with?

Bob Myers has run basketball operations on an interim basis since Daryl Morey's firing on May 12, and he's left with a 2027 first and second, a protected 2028 first, a 2029 swap and two more seconds — plus a 2030 second owed outright to New York. At $213.2 million, above the tax line, there's little room to trade for a fix if this core comes up short.

The verdictPhiladelphia built this roster to win immediately, not to fix itself later: four stars, one apron bill, and a health record that hasn't backed any of it up yet. Preseason scorelines don't settle that question — only games the whole roster actually plays will.

Is Philadelphia over the luxury tax line this season?

Yes. Payroll sits at $213.2 million, above both the $200.4 million luxury tax line and the $209.0 million first apron.

Is Joel Embiid healthy for the start of the 2026-27 season?

He is Day-To-Day for rest, with an estimated return of October 8, after playing just 38 games last season.