Sixers

The Top Five Biggest Concerns Coming Into This Sixers Season

By Sean Barnard

Published: Oct 14th, 2026 · 11:47 AM EDT

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The NBA season has just about arrived, and more eyes are set to be on the Philadelphia 76ers than ever before. Following an ideal offseason as anyone could possibly dream of, the Sixers will lean on their star-studded cast headlined by the new faces of LeBron James and Jaylen Brown.

Championship hopes should absolutely be alive, and there is every fair reason to be thrilled about the outlook of this team. But as the season begins to kick off, here are my five biggest concerns that could prevent Philadelphia from reaching its desired peak.

5. Father Time Catches Up With LeBron James

Few athletes have held off Father Time as long as LeBron James has. But the fact cannot be ignored that he will be turning 42 years old in December, and has more NBA miles on him than any player to ever lace them up. He is the oldest active player in the league by nearly two entire years and will start the season as the eighth-oldest player to ever take the NBA floor. 

While he does not have a case for the best athlete in the league, which used to be the case at his peak, James certainly does not look his age just yet. The 22-time All-Star will still have athletic flashes that very few players are capable of, and he is just a few months removed from being the best player on the floor in a first-round postseason victory over the Houston Rockets. So much of the conversation has been based around James gearing up for his farewell tour to simply chase a championship in Philadelphia, but it should be made clear he is coming off a season in which he suited up for 60 games and posted averages of 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, and 6.1 rebounds per game.

Even still, we’ve seen players completely lose it in Philadelphia for far stranger reasons than getting old. This roster does not require everything to fully revolve around James, like his prime years. But there is a clear need for his skill set as a rebounding threat and playmaker. A significantly diminished version of the future Hall of Famer would shrink the ceiling by a notable margin.

4. Is the Shooting Good Enough?

Three-point shooting is at more of a premium than ever before in the NBA. A key area that has not been acknowledged enough surrounding the Sixers’ playoff shortcomings has been their lack of reliable perimeter shooting. They finished last season ranked 21st in the NBA in three-point volume and 23rd in three-point percentage. Before this, the Sixers ranked 17th in three-point attempts and 27th in three-point percentage. In 2023-24, Philadelphia ranked 19th in three-point attempts and 18th in three-point percentage. This is a steep fall from when they led the NBA in three-point percentage during the 2022-23 season.

It’s going to be fascinating to see the different defensive looks teams throw at the Sixers. There will surely be some creative double-teams, but which player will be doubled is the more perplexing question. Given the solidified status of so many of the stars, there will surely be focused efforts to force the ball out of their hands and make the “others” to beat them. 

Shooting was a bit of a concern surrounding V.J. Edgecombe coming out of college. He shot 34.0% from beyond the three-point arc in his one-and-done season and then largely exceeded expectations as a rookie by connecting on 35.4% from beyond the NBA three-point line across his rookie season. However, Edgecombe’s efficiency dipped in the playoffs, as he shot just 29.2% from deep. Teams proved more than willing to leave him open and force the young guard to be the guy to beat them, and this effort will only be magnified this season. Edgecombe swore during his closing interviews he would be in the gym working until no team will ever willingly leave him open again, but he must prove this on the floor.

The most notable upgrade to know in the conversation for improved shooting is Anfernee Simons. Inked to a two-year contract worth just north of $12 million, Simons is a career 38.1% three-point shooter on 6.1 perimeter attempts per game. He has shot as well as 42.6% from beyond the arc over a season, and will be a key chess piece to space the floor and counter defenses that over-help. Simons can heat up in a hurry and knock down consecutive three-pointers at a rapid rate. Expect him to become a fan-favorite quickly and make his case for the Philadelphia role player Hall of Fame. It is, however, worth noting Simons has not stepped foot on the floor yet this preseason due to a hamstring injury, but the springy guard is not expected to miss regular season action.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will also play a floor spacing role. He’s coming off a poor season with the Memphis Grizzlies in which the 33-year-old shot just 31.6% from beyond the arc, but is eager to rejoin a team with win-now expectations. KCP won a championship alongside James in 2019-20 and played a major role in the Denver Nuggets’ recent championship. The 6-foot-5 guard is an effective defender who has shot 36.5% from beyond the three-point arc in his career, and has shot above 40% from deep in three of the past six seasons.

Tyrese Maxey will also benefit from playing more off-ball and getting clearer three-point looks this season. Maxey has shot as well as 43.4% from beyond the three-point arc over a season and has ranked in the top five in three-point percentage twice already in his career. But as his ball-handling responsibilities have grown and the talent around him has been variable, he has seen more defensive attention and been forced to self-create an increasing amount of his looks off the dribble. The two-time All-Star shot just 36.7% from deep last year and 33.7% in the disastrous season prior, which are each the worst mark since his rookie year.

Dean Wade will be a terrific connective piece who finds a way to impact the game positively whenever he is out there, but his shooting will come-and-go. The 6-foot-9 forward is a career 36.7% three-point shooter on just 3.2 perimeter attempts per game. Wade has shot as well as 39.1% from beyond the arc over a season, but tends to have his hot streaks and cold streaks. Labaron Philon Jr., Justin Edwards, Dominick Barlow, and Jabari Walker will each also be tested but likely to lesser extents.

Philadelphia is going to create plenty of matchup issues with the stars that are in the regular starting lineup. But the ability of the supporting cast to punish opponents for leaving them open will be a major factor in how teams guard them and the team reaching its overall offensive peak. Their shooting efficiency and the quality of looks they can create will play a bigger role in the Sixers’ outlook than has been widely discussed.

3. Joel Embiid Adjusting to a New Style

Injuries are always the lede when discussing the outlook for Joel Embiid. While this is far from a moot point, his willingness and capability to adjust to this new-look Sixers squad is just as essential. Since he was first selected in 2014, Embiid has largely been the entire solar system that the Sixers have rotated around. The supporting cast has come and gone, but the former MVP has been the constant to this Sixers franchise beyond the responsibilities of what should come with a star player.

Without sugarcoating it, Embiid looked awful in his preseason debut. He finished with eight turnovers and just six points, shooting 1-for-5 from the field across 24 minutes of action. To the LeBron fans that are new to watching the Sixers, this is largely normal for the Joel Embiid experience in his first action of the year. The former MVP was limited to four points on 1-for-9 shooting during last year’s season-opener against the Celtics. He will find his form as he settles in, but it wasn’t exactly a statement performance by the seven-time All-Star in his first action with his new teammates.

But beyond kicking off the rust, Embiid must be willing to embrace a new style of basketball that he has not played at any other stage in his career. There are plenty of deserving mouths to feed in this collective attack, and the ball getting stuck in any particular hand will be the quickest route to this season getting off the rails. Embiid is an incredibly smart basketball player who has not been shy to express wanting more help around him through the years. But he must now walk the walk in being willing to sacrifice to make it work with the higher-caliber players around him. This is a point that applies to each of the All-Star talents on the roster, but feels especially vital for Embiid. LeBron James will be getting him the ball in more advantageous spots than he is used to, and this team is going to push the pace at a rate that isn’t a natural fit for his game. There will be going pains, but Embiid must be committed to evolving at this stage of his career.

To paint a positive, the weight loss is real, and he moved well around the court. This meant way more to me than any counting stats could indicate in his preseason debut. The two-time scoring champion is still capable of serving as the engine of an NBA offense at a high level. But his returning to his three-time All-Defensive team level on the other side of the floor is far more important in the context of this Sixers team. In theory, taking some offensive style off his plate should make it easier to scale up his defensive impact. But it isn’t easy to decipher how much of his slippage on the defensive side of the ball has been directly due to him being more limited physically and how much have just been Embiid picking his sports.

Kinkead: I’d add specifically, processing speed – Embiid has to be ready for LeBron to find him under the basket. Early seals and duck-ins. He’s gonna feast if he can match LeBron’s brilliance here.

2. Rebounding

As the laundry list of injury issues has piled up surrounding Embiid as his career, his rebounding production has slipped greatly. The 7-footer pulled in a career-worst 7.7 rebounds per game last season. This is well below the 10.8 rebounds per game he has produced throughout his career and the 13.6 boards he averaged in his peak. Maybe the lost weight will help pave the way toward more verticality, and his reduced offensive responsibilities will open the door for some growth as a rebounder.

But the more likely pathway to team success is the surrounding players taking on more rebounding responsibilities. LeBron pulled in 6.1 rebounds per game last year, which was the third-lowest rate of his 23 year career and worst since 2014-15. Jaylen Brown tied his career-high with 6.9 rebounds per contest last season, V.J. Edgecombe pulled in 5.6 rebounds per game his rookie season, and Maxey also posted a career-high 4.1 rebounds per game. While you can make a case that each player can respectably rebound based on expectations for their position, none of the starting five will exactly be confused for Dennis Rodman.

The same is true of the bench unit, especially following the season-ending injury to Ariel Hukporti. Dean Wade will be asked to contribute on the boards at a high level, but has never averaged more than 4.2 boards per game over a season. Dominick Barlow served as the primary starting power forward for 59 games last year, yet averaged just 4.8 rebounds per game and 7.2 rebounds per 36 minutes. Adem Bona’s foul issues limit his pathway to playing expanded minutes, and none of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Jabari Walker, nor Justin Edwards feel like full solutions either.

This is a Sixers team that finished last year ranked 17th in rebounds per game, 22nd in opponent rebounds allowed, and 25th in team rebounding percentage. They were 30th in the NBA in rebounding percentage the year before and have not cracked the top 15 in this category since 2020-21. It’s undeniable that the Sixers have upgraded their overall talent, and the improvement in depth is more notable than they have been given credit for. But it is tough to shake the feeling of this team failing to get that crucial hustle rebound that has broken the Sixers’ backs on plenty of occasions. It still feels like they still may need a maniac on this roster who is willing to put his body on the line and chase rebounds at a monster rate.

To be fair, they could address this if the rebounding production is not good enough. They will intentionally enter the season with an empty roster spot, could be players ahead of the trade deadline if they desire, and will attract some key talent in the buyout market from veterans hoping for a championship opportunity. It is completely fair to see how the team looks before searching for the best pathway to a high-motor rebounding weapon. But how effective the current roster proves to be on the glass is worth noting as the season kicks off.

1. Can the Sixers Build Chemistry Quick Enough

LeBron James won a championship in his second season with the Miami Heat, falling short in the NBA Finals at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks in his first year with the organization. Upon returning to Cleveland, he fell short at the hands of the Golden State Warriors in his first season before getting his revenge and adding his second championship the following season. James made his trek to the West Coast to join the Lakers ahead of the 2018-19 season, only to miss the playoffs outright in his first year. The four-time MVP then got over the championship hump in his second season, even if you want to throw the asterisk next to it for taking place in the bubble.

I reject the premise of this Sixers team falling under the typical lens of a James’-led team for a few reasons. Most notably, this is not a situation where he joined an organization to completely take over control and build a roster around him. James’ biggest critics will be quick to point to his input on offloading young talent for win-now players in a way that ravaged the future of the franchise. But this is not why he came to Philadelphia. The message was made clear that LeBron wants to add another championship ring to his finger, and the talent on this Sixers roster is largely what attracted him to make the move. He is in Philadelphia to be a key part of the championship chase, but the 41-year-old version no longer seems to have the aspirations of carrying the entire weight of an organization on his shoulders.

But the point still stands that it will take some time for James and the rest of the roster to get on the same page. If any of the notable names miss some extended time, with Embiid the biggest concern in this conversation, this could result in a major roadblock in learning to play together. There is no replacement for the number of game reps it requires to iron out the different style of play for this star-studded team. It is extremely easy to sit up at media day and recognize that it is going to take sacrifice from all parties. But it isn’t as easy when the team loses five games in a row, or one of the All-Stars misses a potential game-winning shot after looking off an open teammate, or nasty headlines begin to circulate surrounding problems on the team. It isn’t entirely his fault, but the reality is there is a media circus that comes with James beyond what this Sixers team has been accustomed to. There is a level of tunnel vision that is necessary but difficult. 

We lived through Tony Wroten, Henry Sims, Michael Carter-Williams, Ish Smith, Jahlil Okafor, Zhaire Smith, and seemingly hundreds of other Process players that proved not to be good enough to be a part of the future vision for the franchise. But building a team of this quality was the vision all along, even if the path to getting there proved to have a few more hurdles than expected. Even with these concerns in mind, there are plenty larger for just about every other team in the NBA. Buckle up and enjoy the ride for what has a chance to be an extremely special basketball team.