Will Paul George fix the Philadelphia 76ers’ playoff shortcomings?

Daryl Morey’s master plan worked.

After the The Philadelphia 76ers’ season ended with another postseason exitMorey was tasked with retooling the team’s roster in free agency and the draft, and he knocked it out of the park.

Morey became the top free agent in nine starts All Star Paul George form one new big three of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. He expanded Maxey, filling out the roster with veterans ready to help a championship contender like Andre Drummond. Caleb Martin Jr.and others, and drawn up Duke sharpshooter Jared McCain in the first round of the 2024 NBA draft.

While it all looks good on paper, the focus is now shifting to the… regular seasonwhich starts tonight against former Sixers coach Doc Rivers and the Milwaukee Bucks at the Wells Fargo Center.

Embiid and George will both miss the season opener due to knee injuries, but here are three storylines to watch as the Sixers try to make a run to the NBA Finals.

How will the Sixers handle Embiid’s health?

Embiid is entering his ninth season with the Sixers after sitting out the first two years of his career due to injury.

The Sixers have been largely successful in the Embiid era. They have made the playoffs seven straight seasons but have bowed out each time. The team hasn’t been to the Eastern Conference Finals since Allen Iverson’s huge performance in 2001 during a run to the NBA Finals, where the team lost to the Los Angeles Lakers.

There are several reasons why the Sixers’ playoff run fell short in the Embiid era. Some of it has to do with disappointing performances from the team’s top players, including Embiid. Some of it fell on the coaching, or the team collapsed as soon as Embiid left the field.

But another reason is the premature trend of Embiid dealing with injuries every postseason. He suffered a knee injury against the New York Knicks earlier this year played by Bell’s palsy. In 2023, he suffered another knee injury when the team fell to the Boston Celtics in the second round. In 2022, he dealt with a broken eye socket and a torn ligament in his thumb – the list goes on.

The team hopes the 2024-2025 season will bring different playoff results. The Sixers will look to manage Embiid better than ever before in the regular season. In an ESPN story early this month, Embiid said he would likely “never” play back-to-back for the rest of his career.

The Sixers will likely develop a plan similar to what the Toronto Raptors did for Kawhi Leonard in the 2018-19 season.

Sixers coach Nick Nurse was the head coach of the Raptors at the time, and it allowed Leonard to be healthy for the playoffs on his way to an NBA title and Finals MVP.

Embiid did not play in the preseason due to left knee management as part of the plan for the 2024-2025 season. He will also miss the season opener and could miss even more games. But time will tell if the plan will get Embiid into the playoffs fully healthy.

Does the addition of Paul George make them overdone?

Throughout Embiid’s career, the Sixers have had a rolling cast of sidekicks for the big guy. The runs with Butler, Ben Simmons and James Harden all ended the same way – disappointing.

Enter George, who fits seamlessly into Philadelphia’s starting lineup alongside Embiid and Maxey. With George in the fold, can the Sixers finally get past the second round of the playoffs?

George, 34, is not the player he once was during his formative years with the Los Angeles Clippers or the season he finished third in the MVP voting with the Oklahoma City Thunder. But he doesn’t have to be that player for the Sixers with Embiid in his prime as one of the top players in the association and Maxey emerging as one of the best guards in the sport.

George is coming off a 2023-24 season in which he averaged 22.6 points and shot 41.3% on 3-pointers to make his ninth All-Star game, which are much better numbers than the Sixers’ third option, Tobias Harris, in the past period. seasons.

George’s play will be heavily scrutinized in the postseason, especially if the Sixers draw the Celtics, the reigning champions. If that happens, George, along with the Sixers’ other wings, would be tasked with guarding Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in a highly anticipated showdown.

How is the Sixers rotation going?

With George as the headliner, the Sixers have many new faces on the roster for the 2024-2025 season, which will give Nurse plenty of options to work through over the course of an 82-game regular season to figure out his rotation.

Embiid, George, Maxey, Martin Jr. and Kelly Oubre Jr. will start for the Sixers when fully healthy, but the team has plenty of experienced veterans who will contribute immediately.

The Sixers brought back Drummondwho played 49 games with the team in the 2021-2022 season, as a reliable backup for Embiid. With the plan to rest Embiid back-to-backs, that means Philadelphia’s third-string center, Breath Bonawill likely get a decent amount of playing time. The team drafted Bona in the second round of the 2024 NBA draft out of UCLA.

At the waiting spot, Kyle Lowry, born in Philadelphia returns to support Maxey again. The nurse previously said Lowry won’t play as big a role as he did last season, which suits the 38-year-old better.

Reggie Jackson, a 13-year veteran who won an NBA championship with the Denver Nuggets in 2023, signed a one-year contract this offseason. The Sixers also added a veteran marksman Eric Gordon Jr. And McCain lined upbut he’s unlikely to break the rotation early in the season.

At the wing spots, the Sixers will have some interesting options off the bench.

Ricky Council, the hyper-athletic 23-year-old, could make a splash in the 2024-25 season after flashing as a rookie. He had a solid Summer League and should get a chance to crack the team’s rotation. The team also brought back and signed KJ Martin to a one-year deal Guerschon Yabusele after a great performance at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Yabusele led France to the gold medal game at the Paris Olympics, averaging 14.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and shooting 51.9% from the field at the Olympics. This will be Yabusele’s second stint in the NBA after playing two seasons with the Celtics from 2017 to 2019. He played overseas for several years before returning to the NBA.

Nurse is known for not being afraid to experiment with new lineups, and we’ll get our first chance to see his new Sixers against the Bucks on Wednesday night.