Sixers

A Sixers Second Half Outlook After Daryl Morey Finalizes the Roster

By Sean Barnard

Published: Feb 19th, 2026 · 2:35 PM EST

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The NBA All-Star break has concluded, and the home stretch of the regular season is now underway. The 76ers hold a 30-24 record and sit in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

On a broader scale, the first half should be largely viewed as a success.

However, it ended on a sour note, with the decision to trade away Jared McCain and duck the tax at the trade deadline without bringing in any form of talent to help the team compete now. This left the Sixers with 13 standard roster spots, even after the decision to upgrade Dominick Barlow from a two-way contract to a standard deal after the 22-year-old served as the starting power forward for the bulk of the season.

While most of the NBA world took a pause for the All-Star festivities, Daryl Morey continued to put some tweaks on the roster, which is now just about set in stone for the final regular season and playoff push.

Cam Payne Signing

The most exciting bottom-of-the-roster addition was Cameron Payne on a rest-of-season contract. The 31-year-old journeyman had fallen out of NBA favor and was playing in Serbia after a stint with the Knicks. He played 31 games with the Sixers in the 2023-24 season after coming over at the trade deadline, logging 19.4 minutes per game and posting averages of 9.3 points, 3.1 assists, and 1.8 rebounds while shooting 38.2% on three-point attempts. He also provided a real spark in the postseason series against the Knicks, with his 11 points in 15 minutes of Game 3 providing a boost:

Cam Payne helped swing Game 3 of the 2024 first-round playoff series between the Sixers and Knicks in his team's favor: pic.twitter.com/6KBAnhgvnZ

— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) February 16, 2026

Daryl Morey deserves some credit for the creativity of digging in the overseas pool and bringing in a legitimate NBA-caliber player outside of the buyout market. Payne has his flaws, primarily on the defensive end, but he is unafraid, has limitless energy, and can get red-hot in a way that shifts a game. At worst, this means the Sixers are no longer one minor injury away from needing Kyle Lowry to play real minutes.

It has felt like an annual occurrence when Cam Payne swings a playoff game by getting inserted into the matchup and knocking down shots on a string of possessions. He is unafraid of the moment and is a true vibes guy within the walls of the locker room. The Sixers will not be counting on Payne on an every-game basis, but there will be a few stretches when they need some form of offense at the guard spot outside of the guys logging major minutes. Cam Payne is a better bet to fill these than most options that were on the table.

Jabari Walker Upgraded to a Standard Contract

In a less-surprising move, the Sixers upgraded Jabari Walker from his two-way contract to a standard deal. This makes him eligible for the remainder of the season and playoffs, as well as a partial guarantee for next year.

The Sixers have utilized their two-way slots a bit differently than most NBA teams. In general, teams hand two-way contracts to youthful players who are not quite NBA-ready just yet, whom they hope to develop. NBA requirements are that these three two-way slots are exclusively available to players with fewer than four years of NBA experience, and the players on these deals are limited to 50 games of NBA action with no playoff eligibility.

Morey has prioritized bringing in players at the tail end of this timeline that can play a role right away. This essentially allows the organization to pay a rotation player a cheaper deal and have a chance to evaluate if they see a long-term vision in Philadelphia. Barlow and Walker are each examples of this, and both have seen their contracts upgraded from two-way contracts to standard deals throughout this season after earning it with their play. The Sixers played some salary cap gymnastics, such as signing players to 10-day contracts so they technically had 15 rostered players, to ensure maximum availability. Now there are no strings attached, as both Walker and Barlow are available for the rest of the season and moving forward.

Walker has played in 45 games this season, averaging 12.1 minutes and producing 3.7 points and 3.1 rebounds. Walker likely will not shift the outlook for this season or beyond, but he is a legitimate NBA player and will remain in the mix for power forward minutes on this team. His 14.1% total rebounding percentage trails only Andre Drummond for the best rate on the team (minimum 60 mins), and there is a case to be made that Walker is the best pure rebounder on the roster. Nick Nurse has relied on him whenever they have needed some additional physicality, and the Colorado product has an endearing toughness to his style of play.

In the open two-way slot that Walker leaves, the Sixers signed Allentown native Tyrese Martin. The UConn product fits the criteria for how the Sixers target more “win-now” two-way options, as he has three years and 113 games of NBA experience to his name already. The three two-way slots the Sixers will enter the second half of the year with are Martin, MarJon Beauchamp, and Dalen Terry.

Injury Concerns Remain the Same

The continued effort to improve the bottom of the Sixers’ roster is commendable and will have some positive long-term effects for the franchise. But the reality is the same concerns as always. They are not getting off to the best start to the second half with this outlook, as Joel Embiid missed the final two games before the All-Star break due to knee issues. He has been ruled out for Thursday’s game against the Hawks. Officially, the Sixers are listing “shin soreness” as the reason for his absence:

While participating in a right knee injury management program during the All-Star break, Joel Embiid reported soreness in his right shin. Following a consultation with doctors, Embiid has received daily treatment, while progressing through on-court work and strength and conditioning.

He will be OUT of tomorrow night’s game vs. Atlanta and reevaluated ahead of the team’s back-to-back this weekend.

Further updates will be provided later this week.

Embiid has largely been more available and playing at a higher level than the realistic expectations were coming into the season. He has been vocal about his outlook shifting to being more proactive in sitting out over issues that he previously would have pushed through with the long-term vision of the season in mind. The 2022-23 MVP has played in 31 of a possible 54 games thus far, posting averages of 26.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game. Prior to missing the back-to-back games before the break, Embiid had played in 20 of the previous 25, with four of these missed games being one half of a back-to-back. He has looked like a legitimate All-NBA caliber player again for most of this stretch. If Embiid can be healthy for a postseason run, there still is no answer for him on any roster in the Eastern Conference. But this has been the case for the past decade, and neither Embiid nor the Sixers have been able to successfully navigate it.

One guy who does have a clear path to being healthy for the playoffs is Paul George. This is unfortunately because he is in the midst of a 25-game suspension for a violation of the NBA’s drug policy. George will be eligible to return with exactly 10 games remaining in the regular season and then be a part of the playoff run. Before the suspension, the nine-time All-Star had found his footing on this Sixers team, posting averages of 16.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists while being the anchor of the defense. The glass-half-full outlook is that at least George will be healthy and fresh for the postseason. But it still is a hit that there will not be more opportunities for him to build chemistry with the rest of the roster for the next 18 games.

If the Sixers enter the postseason with a starting five of Tyrexe Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, George, Barlow, and Embiid, with key rotation players such as Quentin Grimes, Kelly Oubre, Trendon Watford, and Drummond/Adem Bona as the primary rotation, you can still see the vision for a team that will be a tough out in the postseason. Many of the target benchmarks for what the Sixers were hoping to hit have been reached. But this still feels like a case where you have to hold your breath and hope that the team as designed will be the team that takes the floor come playoff time.

For better or for worse, this Sixers team is just about set in stone for the second half. The Eastern Conference is wide open for the taking, but any outlook on that conversation is fully dependent on the Sixers looking in the mirror and reaching their individual peak.