With expectations higher than ever heading into the 2026-27 season for the All-Star guard, Philadelphia 76ers' Tyrese Maxey said a healthy Joel Embiid makes a significant difference for his team. Talking about Embiid's availability this upcoming season is, of course, stating the obvious for Philadelphia. After Maxey helped recruit LeBron James over the summer, he's looking forward to the challenge ahead.
Maxey revealed how the 76ers are better when Embiid is healthy during his media availability on Thursday.
“It changes everything. For him to be healthy throughout the entirety, you can put in more packages,” Maxey said. “It's been times when he hasn't been healthy, and we're getting to the game, and now we're trying to learn on the flow. I've been here. So, I kind of know what he wants with the cuts and all that stuff. But if you haven't played with a big like Joel — not many.
“It's very hard, very difficult to learn certain things like when to cut, when to slide over, but him being here, you can drill those things over and over again. It's been two what? Two-three weeks that we've had just drilling, drilling, and drilling him. I think that's a good thing for us.”
76ers All-Star Tyrese Maxey averaged a career-best in points (28.3), assists (6.6), rebounds (4.1), and steals (1.9) last season. On the cusp of his prime, Maxey said the Sixers will have to hang their hat on defense to reach their full potential.
“When we're getting stops and just the times that we've played, we can be pretty good. That's going to be our biggest thing. We're going to have to hang our hat on the defensive end,” Maxey said. “We're going to be a team defense and a team rebounding team. And I think that will really help us.”
Article Continues Below76ers' Joel Embiid hasn't played 60+ regular-season games since 2022-23. He averaged 26.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.9 assists across 38 appearances last season.
The Sixers will host the Celtics in their preseason finale on Friday.