Embiid, Maxey and LeBron Sit; Brown Gets His First Look vs. the Knicks

0:04The host: Everybody's asking the same thing this morning: why is Joel Embiid not dressing for a game two hours from now? Here's the answer, he's not alone. Tyrese Maxey, LeBron James, Anfernee Simons, Dominick Barlow, Adem Bona, all day-to-day, all rest. Tonight's first real look belongs to Jaylen Brown.

0:25The analyst: Rest, not injury. Every one of those six says rest, other, estimated return October 8th, which is the Brooklyn game. This is a controlled preseason roster, not a medical situation.

0:37The host: Still stings a little. First preseason game in a Sixers uniform and we don't get to see the two guys who are supposed to carry this thing in April.

0:46The analyst: You'll see Jaylen Brown instead, and that's the actual story. First live look at him since Boston sent him here for Paul George and four picks, two firsts, two seconds.

0:56The host: And he's doing it against the team that ended their season. The Knicks swept Philadelphia in the second round last spring. That's not nothing, even in a preseason opener.

1:05The analyst: New York's also at zero and zero tonight, preseason like us. But last year they went 53 and 29, net rating plus 6.4. Jalen Brunson at 26 points a game, Karl-Anthony Towns averaging 20.1 and 11.9 boards.

1:24The host: They're banged up too, just the one, Drew Eubanks, day-to-day with a thumb. Everybody else who beat us in May is available tonight.

1:31The analyst: Which makes the matchup simple. Towns at center against whatever frontcourt we trot out, Ariel Hukporti, Jabari Walker, Dean Wade, with Embiid sitting. That's the mismatch that decides this one.

1:44The host: Walk me through who we've actually got suited up tonight.

1:47The analyst: Brown, VJ Edgecombe, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, cleared as of October 1st, Dean Wade, Jabari Walker, Dillon Jones, Justin Edwards. Then the camp names: Caleb Love, Rayan Rupert, Labaron Philon, Saint Thomas, Duke Miles, Jameer Nelson Junior.

2:03The host: That's a lot of players fighting for a roster spot, not a rotation.

2:08The analyst: Which is exactly why they're playing. Kyle Lowry, MarJon Beauchamp, Tyrese Martin all left on September 21st, and nobody's replaced them. The camp guys are getting run because the depth chart actually has holes.

2:21The host: So tonight's less about the score and more about who earns a real look next to Love and Philon.

2:26The analyst: Correct. And don't read anything into a single preseason box score either way, one game tells you nothing about who sticks in April.

2:33The host: Give me the number of the day.

2:35The analyst: 213.2 million in payroll. They're roughly 13 million over the tax line.

2:40The host: So they're over the first apron by 13 million, that's the real hard-cap problem.

2:46The analyst: No, different lines. The tax line is 200.4 million. The first apron is 209.0 million, and they're already over that one too. The second apron is 221.7 million, and that's 8.5 million away. That's the number that actually bites.

3:01The host: 8.5 million before everything freezes, no aggregating salaries in trades, no taxpayer mid-level exception.

3:08The analyst: That's the one. Not the tax bill, the second apron cushion.

3:12The host: We're also still carrying the Brown trade on the ledger, two firsts and two seconds gone to Boston, plus a 2030 second owed to New York.

3:19The analyst: Right, and a conditional 2028 second to Brooklyn too. The cupboard's not bare, 2027's first and second are both still theirs, so is the 2030 first. But it's a franchise that's spent real draft capital this summer.

3:33The host: And camp still hasn't closed out two things. Bona's foot and leg since September 17th, still day-to-day, no clearance yet. Tacko Fall went from out to day-to-day on October 1st with that hip issue, expected back the 16th.

3:50The analyst: Neither's resolved. Fall's at least trending the right way, out to day-to-day is progress, even without a date you can bank on.

3:57The host: Ball's up in two hours, NBA TV, out of Xfinity Mobile Arena. Second of four preseason games before the one that counts, October 20th at Madison Square Garden.

4:09The analyst: The opener's the only one on the schedule that matters. Everything tonight is about who's still standing and who's earned minutes by then.

4:16The host: Watch Jaylen Brown's touches tonight, first real read on how this offense moves with him running it instead of Embiid. We'll have the readout up on the 76ers page on Hoops Nightly right after the horn.

4:28The analyst: And tomorrow morning we're checking one thing: whether Bona's practicing, because day-to-day since September 17th has to turn into an actual answer sometime.