The 76ers Have the NBA's Flashiest Starting Five and a Center Problem They Can't Hide

The Philadelphia 76ers spent the offseason assembling the most talked-about roster in the league. LeBron James and Jaylen Brown arrived to join Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe, giving Philadelphia a starting five that drew crowds more than 10-deep just to watch a Saturday scrimmage. On paper, it's a group that has the Sixers priced third on the championship board at BetMGM, behind only Oklahoma City and San Antonio.

Then the preseason started, and the conversation shifted about five minutes into the opener.

The injury that changed the roster math

Ariel Hukporti, signed this summer to back up Embiid, went down with a non-contact leg injury in Philadelphia's first preseason game against the Knicks and was later ruled out for the season with a torn Achilles. The Sixers won that game 120-97 with Embiid, Maxey, and James all sitting — and it may end up being the least consequential thing that happened that night.

Hukporti's absence put both of Philadelphia's backup centers on the shelf, and Dominick Barlow is still without an injury timeline as the preseason finale approaches. That leaves Adem Bona, who was looking at a fringe rotation role a month ago, suddenly positioned for real minutes behind a 32-year-old center whose health has been the franchise's defining variable for years.

A blowout in Boston made the problem visible

The Sixers' star-heavy lineup got its first extended run in Brooklyn, a 114-108 loss to the Nets in which James took one shot and finished with 10 points, five assists, and four rebounds. The passing was crisp; the result wasn't.

Three nights later in Boston, with Jaylen Brown unavailable, Philadelphia was routed 144-106 — a 38-point loss in which Payton Pritchard scored 25 and Jayson Tatum added 23. The Celtics' regulars punished the Sixers on the glass, a familiar issue against physical frontcourts that now looks less like a preseason footnote and more like a structural weakness.

Embiid's own exhibition debut drew harsh reviews, and he was involved in a first-quarter collision with Brown that briefly scared the building before both were cleared. Add in the surreal few days surrounding Mike Breen's since-retracted practice anecdote — which Embiid called "unfortunate," saying "it feels like I'm an easy target" — and October has already delivered more noise than most teams generate by Christmas.

What it means for the season

The Sixers' opener is Oct. 20 in New York, and the preseason finale against Boston comes Friday. Between now and then, Nick Nurse has to answer a question that has nothing to do with star power: who plays the five when Embiid sits?

CBS Sports has already floated the idea of James logging minutes at center, a small-ball lever that could work in stretches. Bona's development is now a genuine rotation story rather than a curiosity. And Philadelphia's rebounding, already a soft spot in the preseason, becomes a nightly stress test in a division that includes the Knicks and Celtics.

There's real optimism here, too. Brown looks like the self-creating scorer this roster has lacked, James' playmaking remains the connective tissue that could unlock Maxey and Edgecombe, and a 50.5 win total implies the market sees a genuine contender. Embiid reported feeling "pretty good" at media day and is reportedly carrying a lighter frame into the year.

But the Sixers built a team around five stars. The preseason reminded everyone that championships are still decided by who's available in the minutes they don't play.