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Imago
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The Philadelphia 76ers are heading towards a new dawn. After seven seasons, they let go of Daryl Morey following their second-round exit to the New York Knicks. But that can’t be all. Since Joel Embiid’s been in Philly, he’s yet to make a conference finals. This year, it felt like all the pieces fell in place, with Embiid back from injury and Paul George close to his best. But even that wasn’t enough.
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“The truth is, depth may be more important than it’s ever been. Maybe that’s the pace of play, maybe that’s what we require of our players more. Not to say that this model doesn’t work, but you have to look at what happened this year and be honest about it,” Myers said during the press conference.
The 76ers have operated under a top-heavy model for multiple seasons. This year, it was Embiid-George-Tyrese Maxey. Before that, they had James Harden or Jimmy Butler and Ben Simmons alongside Embiid. Neither of those permutations resulted in any postseason progress. Myers, having seen the operation’s results over the years, wishes to revise their strategy.
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The former Warriors general manager views the second apron as a hard cap. For the next season, the 76ers have committed $151 million to their ‘Big 3’. It doesn’t account for the rotations players they lost. Kelly Oubre Jr, Andre Drummond, and Quentin Grimes are free agents who could fetch lucrative contracts elsewhere. Hence, without restructuring their books, the 76ers won’t have the chance to attract high-level role players to round out their roster.
Bob Myers, on the difficulty of building a team with 3 max contracts:
“The truth is, depth may be more important than it’s ever been…We gotta be honest of can this model work. Depth is key, and you only have a certain amount of resources to spend.” pic.twitter.com/znLzvw8bm0
— PHLY Sixers (@PHLY_Sixers) May 14, 2026
“We gotta be honest, can this model work, and that’s really the question. But also understanding that depth is key, and you only have a certain amount of resources to spend. So, it’s all part of what we need to figure out going forward,” Myers added.
The resources, unfortunately, are either Maxey, Embiid, or George. Of the three, the youngest is likely to stay, especially with Maxey bursting as an All-NBA calibre guard forming a lethal partnership with VJ Edgecombe. Even in terms of salary, Embiid and George earn the most. While their trade value is currently uncertain, the 76ers could bring in a variety of players to meet their needs by shopping just one of them.
In the modern league, recycling the roster with a few replacements is key to avoiding the apron implications. The 76ers can still have the stars, but need a complete roster to cross the hump. That’s why Myers is here, ready to use his expertise to help the franchise.
Bob Myers will work with the next general manager
The Philadelphia 76ers are looking to move swiftly in replacing Morey. They ideally want a candidate to sit as the general manager before the NBA draft. However, the top priority is to find the best fit for the job. The qualities they are after are collaborative and insightful. “It’s not one person that wins championships. It’s a team of people,” said Myers.
The only constant going forward will be head coach Nick Nurse. The 2019 NBA champion with the Raptors brought the best out of the team. He even shielded Joel Embiid when people questioned his injury history. Nurse is a players’ coach first, which is why he’s been successful in establishing great relationships inside the locker room. His championship DNA gives the 76ers a battle-tested general who knows what it takes to win.
Now, they will also have a guy who has a knack for building championship rosters from the ground up.
“What they’re going to get, and our fans are going to get is them plus me. I won’t be on the day-to-day level, but on the high-level decision-making, which is being here at the draft, being here leading up to the trade deadline, being available for free agency discussions, free agency meetings, things like that. I’m going to be involved at that level,” the former Warriors general manager added.
Bob Myers is going to communicate with the general manager regularly and plans on offering his insights when making decisions about the future of the franchise. It could come with some polarizing decisions. But the wait for success has been long. Hence, everything is on the table.
To some extent, Joel Embiid knew it. After getting eliminated, he said, “I don’t even know if I’m going to be here. Whatever happens, happens”. The 76ers have reached a point where they may abandon ‘The Process’.
