Stagnation demands a radical reset. By trading Joel Embiid, the Philadelphia 76ers can unlock financial flexibility and build a future around Tyrese Maxey and rising star VJ Edgecombe.
The Philadelphia 76ers have reached the point where patience with the current core feels more like denial than strategy.
Joel Embiid is still an elite player when healthy, and that should not be dismissed. But after years of playoff disappointment, injury setbacks, and expensive roster construction, the Sixers have to ask whether this version of the team has already hit its ceiling.
The ideal offseason should start with a difficult move: exploring an Embiid trade.
This move is based on going in a cleaner direction. Embiid is owed $55.2 million in 2025-26 as part of a four-year, $213.2 million contract, a massive financial commitment for a player whose postseason availability has become a yearly concern. Trading him would be painful given his years of service, but it could also give Philadelphia the flexibility, draft capital, and young talent needed to build around Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe.
That duo should be the center of the next Sixers era. Maxey has already proven he can be an offensive engine, while Edgecombe quickly showed he belongs as more than just a developmental piece. Edgecombe averaged 16.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists as a rookie, earned unanimous All-Rookie First Team honors, and finished among the top three rookies in scoring.
If the Sixers move Embiid, the next step should be finding a modern big man who fits their younger timeline. That is why a prospect like Chris Cenac Jr. makes sense. Cenac is not Embiid, and he should not be expected to replace him immediately. But he fits the athletic profile Philadelphia should want in a reset: mobile, long, active, and capable of running the floor with young guards. In the modern NBA, the ability to switch and be mobile is crucial. Cenac has that quality in spades.
Instead of building everything around slow half-court possessions and Embiid post touches, Philadelphia could become faster, more athletic and more aggressive in transition. Maxey and Edgecombe would have room to attack, push pace and develop chemistry without the roster being caught between two timelines.
The Sixers do not need another half-measure. They have tried star-chasing, expensive veteran cores, and quick fixes. The results have been disappointing for far too long to continue. If Philadelphia wants a real reset, it should trade Embiid while he still has value, draft an athletic big, and build properly around Maxey and Edgecombe.
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Wes Dixon is a contributing writer to 76ersRoundtable. He can be reached at [email protected].
