Daryl Morey remains committed to star trio heading into 2025-26

Daryl Morey remains committed to star trio heading into 2025-26

Coming into the 2024-25 season with high expectations, the Philadelphia 76ers’ year crashed and burned at the hands of injuries to each of their star players.

Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey played a total of 15 games together, going 7-8 with a middling minus-0.2 NET Rating when all of them shared the floor together.

Unfortunately, all of their seasons were cut short due to injuries. Rookie Jared McCain, who was one of the team’s most impactful players when on the court, also suffered a season-ending meniscus tear, limited to just 23 games (eight starts).

It was a season to forget. Yet, despite all of that, 76ers president Daryl Morey remains committed to building around Embiid, George and Maxey heading into 2025-26, despite the former two being injury-prone.

“We’re committed to Joel, Paul, and Tyrese,” Morey said earlier this week on 97.5 The Fanatic. “I would say the roster next year is going to be much stronger. One thing when you have a disaster season is how do you take advantage of it? You want to give yourself a chance at a high pick in the draft, which we have.”

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Philadelphia finished with one of its worst records in franchise history at 24-58, 23 wins fewer than its 47-35 standing the season prior.

The NBA Draft lottery is on Monday. The 76ers have the fifth-best odds in the draft; they have a 42.1 percent chance at a top-4 pick and a 10.5 percent chance at the No. 1 pick. However, their pick is top-6 protected, meaning they have a 36 percent chance of losing their pick to Oklahoma City, who would acquire their pick as a result of the Danny Green-Al Horford trade.

Morey took accountability for some of the roster’s flaws, but did acknowledge that injuries are hard to predict in today’s NBA–offering hope that his star trio can stay healthy next season.

“What I did not do well was make sure we have the youth and athleticism to get through the regular season and put us in that position, and that’s something we will do next year,” he said. “What you want to have in this league is a chance to win the title. You want to have elite players when they’re healthy. You want to have a good supporting cast, and we’ll have that next year.”

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