The Philadelphia 76ers were touted as early title contenders after acquiring Paul George during the offseason. However, trouble is brewing in the City of Brotherly Love with the 2024-25 NBA season not yet underway.
On Monday, Joel Embiid revealed that he doesn't plan to play in back-to-back games this season to help preserve his body for the playoffs. Later that day, Paul George hyper-extended his knee during the Sixers' preseason game against the Atlanta Hawks.
According to ESPN's Tim McMahon, these preseason issues prove that guard Tyrese Maxey will have to do the heavy lifting for the Sixers during the regular season.
"That's what makes Tyrese Maxey the most important payer on that roster for the regular season," said McMahon. "He's the guy they can count on every single night. He's the guy that's gonna carry this team when the two stars are sitting."
Maxey might do the heavy lifting next season
Tyrese averaged career-highs across the board at 25.9 points, 6.2 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per game last season. With his impressive showing, Maxey not only earned his first All-Star selection but was also named the NBA's Most Improved Player winner the previous season. With the injury histories of his co-stars, the 23-year-old may need to step up even more this year.
George played 74 games last season for the Clippers, but if you look back, PG has played just a total of 61% of the total games played in the previous four campaigns. On the other hand, Embiid has not played more than 68 contests in any season of his NBA career and was limited to only 39 last year.
"Perk said 45 or 50," said McMahon on the number of games Embiid and George should each play next season. "That'd be a great number. Then you get to how many games do they have to win if they're not going to play 30, 35, 40 games together. I mean, you start doing the math, and you start worrying about seeding. They're gonna have to win on a 60-game clip when those two guys are on the court together."
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The Sixers have 15 back-to-back games this season
Fortunately for the Sixers, George's injury was ruled a bone bruise, and he will be re-evaluated in a week. Philly definitely dodged a bullet here, as tests showed no structural damage to PG's knee. However, as fragile as he's been in recent seasons, that's not a guarantee that Paul will be healthy the rest of the way.
And then there's Embiid, who said on Monday that he won't play in back-to-back games moving forward. With the Sixers having 15 such occasions this season, that means he already has as many DNPs, and the season has not even started yet.
Maxey carried the team last season with Joel out. There's no reason he can't do it again this year if JoJo and PG are out. However, seeding will be an issue if the two miss a significant number of games. Without Embiid for the majority of the 2023-24 campaign, the Sixers could only manage 7th place in the East. It's hard to see them higher if the same scenario happens.
Related: Stephen A. Smith reacts to Joel Embiid not playing back-to-back games anymore: "I can't knock him for that"
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