Joel Embiid and Zach LaVineTim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
The Philadelphia 76ers could look a lot different next season. Currently, the only players under contract for 2024-25 are Joel Embiid ($51.4 million) and Paul Reed, whose $7.7 million salary is only fully guaranteed if the Sixers win a playoff series).
We can safely assume that Tyrese Maxey will re-sign with the Sixers this summer or that the offer sheet he signs will match. But Philly could still use more firepower to support those two, especially since Embiid has averaged just 42.8 appearances per season since the Sixers drafted him in 2014.
Every time Maxey plays without Embiid this season, the Sixers score at a rate that ranks in the 60th percentile throughout the league. A healthy LaVine could help on that front.
In the five seasons preceding this one, LaVine had generally been a helping hand to his team’s offensive ratings. His high-volume three-point shooting would also help when Embiid is on the floor.
Since the start of the 2018-19 season, LaVine has averaged 2.7 three-pointers while shooting 38.5 percent from deep. With those kinds of shots on one flank and Maxey’s on the other, Embiid’s catches in the middle of the field would be harder for defenses to collapse.
LaVine probably wouldn’t help much on defense, but if you start with an offensive core with those three and build with grit and defense from there, the Sixers could be in the title race for the next years of Embiid’s bonus. .
The reigning MVP turns 30 this month and has a long injury history. Finding another star to carry some of its burden could preserve the rest of its prime.
