Philadelphia 76ers Rumors

Sixers’ Jared McCain To Make Season Debut On Tuesday

November 4th, 2025 at 11:55am CST by Rory Maher

November 4: McCain will be available for Tuesday’s game vs. the Bulls, the Sixers confirmed today (via Twitter).

November 3: Jared McCain is on track to make his season debut tomorrow, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that the Sixers guard will be listed as probable for Tuesday’s game in Chicago.

The 16th overall pick in last year’s draft, McCain sustained a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right thumb during an offseason workout just before training camp began. He subsequently underwent surgery to address the injury.

McCain was no longer wearing a splint early last week and then was able to practice on Thursday.

McCain, 21, was one of the early Rookie of the Year frontrunners in 2024/25, averaging 15.3 points, 2.6 assists and 2.4 rebounds on .460/.383/.875 shooting in 23 games (25.7 MPG). However, he suffered a season-ending injury — a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee, which required surgery — last December.

After a disastrous 2-12 start to open last season, the 76ers have been one of the NBA’s pleasant surprises early on in ’25/26 — they’re currently 5-1. McCain will slot into a strong backcourt rotation featuring Tyrese Maxey (who was just named Eastern Conference Player of the Week), VJ Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes.

Forwards Paul George (left knee surgery) and Dominick Barlow (right elbow laceration) will remain sidelined for Tuesday’s contest, tweets Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports.

Sixers Notes: Oubre, Lowry, Edgecombe, Embiid

November 3rd, 2025 at 10:58pm CST by Rory Maher

While the Sixers‘ backcourt play has understandably garnered most of the attention during the team’s 5-1 start, veteran forward Kelly Oubre Jr. has been a key contributor as well, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscriber link).

In Sunday’s matchup with Brooklyn, Oubre was tasked with slowing down Michael Porter Jr., who had a season-high 32-points in his previous game against Atlanta. Not only did Oubre limit Porter to two first-half points, he scored 24 of his own, including a career-best 22 in the first quarter alone.

“So [Kelly] set the tone big-time on that,” head coach Nick Nurse said. “And, again, I really believe this to be true: When you start the game super focused on D, that really usually translates to the other end, too. It really does.”

Oubre, who will be an unrestricted free agent next summer, is averaging 19.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 38.0 minutes per contest on .526/.416/.800 shooting through six games.

Here’s more on the 76ers:

Kyle Lowry officially became the 12th player in NBA history to play 20 seasons when he checked in for garbage-time minutes at the end of Sunday’s win against the Nets, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. The six-time All-Star, who was born in Philadelphia and played his college ball at Villanova, is a leader in the 76ers’ locker room. “That’s a Hall of Famer we’re talking about,” Tyrese Maxey said. “Jersey’s probably getting retired in Toronto. And he’s up cheering for everybody, motivating people, talking in the locker room. I’ve got nothing but love and respect for K-Low and we appreciate having him.”
In a column for The Inquirer, Pompey (subscription required), Pompey wonders whether VJ Edgecombe will be able to reach his full potential offensively playing alongside a ball-dominant center in Joel Embiid. Edgecombe has been the league’s top rookie in the early going, averaging 20.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 5.0 APG and 1.5 SPG on .495/.421/.824 shooting in six games (39.0 MPG), but has often ceded touches to Embiid when they share the court, Pompey explains.
Embiid’s defensive mobility has been limited in his four appearances this season after he underwent another knee surgery in April. In a subscriber-only mailbag, Pompey speculates that the former league MVP may have lingering issues with the knee, though he acknowledges it will probably take another month or so to determine if Embiid will look like this going forward or if he’s just trying to work himself back into playing shape. Pompey also tackles questions about Paul George‘s play-making and how the nine-time All-Star forward might impact the team’s defense when he makes his season debut.
In case you missed it, second-year guard Jared McCain is expected to make his season debut on Tuesday in Chicago.

SGA, Maxey Named NBA’s Players Of The Week

November 3rd, 2025 at 2:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey have been named the NBA Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, according to the league (Twitter links).

Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City to a 4-0 record during the week of October 27 to November 2, averaging 28.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game. He was especially effective over the course of a three-game stretch vs. the Kings, Wizards, and Pelicans, scoring at least 30 points in all three contests and committing just four total turnovers.

Maxey carried the Sixers to a 3-1 record by averaging 33.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game this past week. The sixth-year guard, who will celebrate his 25th birthday on Tuesday, began the week by scoring a season-high 43 points against Orlando, then had 39 points and 10 assists in an overtime win over Washington.

The Trail Blazers’ duo of Deni Avdija and Jrue Holiday, the Suns’ Devin Booker, the Lakers’ duo of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves and the Rockets’ Alperen Sengun were the other Western Conference nominees.

The Celtics’ Jaylen Brown, the Pistons’ Cade Cunningham, the Bulls’ Josh Giddey, the Hawks’ Jalen Johnson and the Bucks’ Ryan Rollins were also nominated in the East.

Joel Embiid Fined $50K By NBA

November 2nd, 2025 at 1:11pm CST by Rory Maher

Sixers center Joel Embiid has been fined $50K by the NBA for “making a lewd gesture on the playing court,” the league announced today (via Twitter).

Embiid made a crotch-chop gesture after making a basket through a foul during the first quarter of Philadelphia’s one-point loss to Boston on Friday (Twitter video link). He has been fined multiple times in the past for that same celebration.

The fine is a drop in the bucket for Embiid, who is earning $55,224,526 this season on his maximum-salary contract. Through four games, the seven-time All-Star is averaging 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.0 block in 22.3 minutes per contest. His shooting line is .460/.389/.800.

Embiid, 31, will miss Sunday’s game in Brooklyn due to left knee injury management, per the league’s official injury report.

The 76ers have gotten off to a strong start to the 2025/26 campaign, currently holding a 4-1 record.

Community Shootaround: NBA’s Undefeated Teams

October 31st, 2025 at 1:33pm CST by Luke Adams

If NBA fans had been polled prior to the season about which four teams would be the last to lose a regular season game, it’s safe to assume the defending champion Thunder would have received a ton of votes. So it doesn’t come as a huge surprise that Oklahoma City – which set a new NBA record by winning a 21st consecutive game against an Eastern Conference opponent on Thursday, per Nick Gallo (Twitter link) – is the league’s only 6-0 team entering Friday’s games.

But fans would presumably have hard a much tougher time predicting the other three teams in that undefeated group alongside the Thunder. After 10 days of regular season action, the Spurs (5-0), Sixers (4-0), and Bulls (4-0) also haven’t lost a game.

Incredibly, while the Spurs have been playing in the NBA for a half-century and have won five titles during that time, this is the first year the team has ever gotten off to a 5-0 start. As Michael C. Wright of ESPN details, Victor Wembanyama has been leading the way by playing at an MVP level. After piling up 26 points, 18 rebounds, and five blocked shots on Thursday vs. Miami, Wembanyama leads the league in rebounds (14.6) and blocks (4.8) per game while also averaging 30.2 points per night.

“It feels great,” Wembanyama said of the Spurs’ five consecutive wins, per Wright. “It’s not random. We didn’t get those five wins randomly. We worked for it. We started this season strong, and we need to keep that streak going for as long as possible.”

As impressive as the Spurs’ hot start has been on the heels of a 34-win performance in 2024/25, it’s not the most surprising season-opening run. That honor belongs to either the Sixers, who went 24-58 last season and still haven’t had star forward Paul George in their lineup, or the Bulls, a perennial play-in team who had an over/under of 32.5 wins prior to the season.

Besides not having George available yet, the Sixers have had star center Joel Embiid on a minutes restriction — he has played in just three of the team’s four games and has logged 21.0 minutes per night. Philadelphia’s success has been largely driven by a trio of guards, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, and Quentin Grimes, who have combined to average a remarkable 77.5 points per night, led by 37.5(!) from Maxey.

While the 76ers’ ability to make a deep playoff run in the spring will largely come down to what Embiid and George can give them, the fact that they’re thriving in the early going without major contributions from either of those two veteran stars is an extremely encouraging sign.

As for the Bulls, they opened the season with wins over three far trendier Eastern Conference playoff picks – the Pistons, Magic, and Hawks – before beating old friends Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan on Wednesday in a victory over the Kings. As Paul Sullivan of The Chicago Tribune (subscription required) writes, the Bulls – without top scorer Coby White – are succeeding as a result of a balanced offensive attack, with at least six players scoring in double figures in all four of their victories and no one averaging more than 20 points per game.

Whether their strong start will continue is up for debate, but Josh Giddey seems to be carrying his momentum from last year’s strong second half over to 2025/26, while Matas Buzelis is taking a step forward in his second NBA season and veteran center Nikola Vucevic continues to be a reliable source of offense. Role players like Tre Jones (.581/.625/.750), Ayo Dosunmu (.524/.500/.857), and Patrick Williams (.542/.500/.571) have all be on fire to open the season too.

We want to know what you think of those four undefeated teams. While there’s probably not much to say about the Thunder, what do you make of the Spurs’, Sixers’, and Bulls’ hot starts? Will they come back to earth sooner rather than later, or have you seen enough so far to feel confident about those teams’ chances to exceed their preseason expectations? Which team will be the last to lose a game this season?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Injury Notes: Luka, Giannis, Young, Holmgren, Beal, Sixers

October 30th, 2025 at 10:03pm CST by Rory Maher

After missing the past three games with finger and leg injuries, Lakers superstar Luka Doncic has been listed as questionable for Friday’s matchup at Memphis, as Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group relays.

It has been five days since the Lakers stated that the Slovenian guard would be reevaluated in about a week, though Price notes the actual left finger sprain occurred a week ago vs. Minnesota. Head coach JJ Redick said ahead of Wednesday’s win that the swelling in Doncic’s finger had subsided somewhat.

Free agent addition Marcus Smart, who has missed the past two games with a quadriceps contusion, is also questionable for Friday’s contest, Price adds.

Here are some more injury-related notes from around the NBA:

Superstar Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was a surprise scratch on Thursday against Golden State after being listed as probable in the lead-up to the game, notes Jamal Collier of ESPN. Despite being down their best player, the Bucks defeated the Warriors behind a career night from guard Ryan Rollins, who finished with 32 points (on 13-of-21 shooting), eight assists and five rebounds, tweets Eric Nehm of The Athletic. As ESPN’s Anthony Slater notes (via Twitter), it was a revenge game of sorts for Rollins, who was drafted by and later traded by Golden State. The former second-round pick had a big game on Tuesday as well, recording 25 points (on 8-of-11 shooting), four assists and four steals in 26 minutes.
Star point guard Trae Young will be sidelined for Friday’s game in Indiana due to a right knee sprain, the Hawks announced (via Twitter). Young was reportedly scheduled to undergo an MRI today after he exited Wednesday’s game with the injury, which occurred late in the first quarter when a teammate was pushed and fell into his knee (Twitter video link).
Thunder big man Chet Holmgren was off to an excellent start this season before lower back soreness sidelined him for both Tuesday’s win vs. Sacramento and Thursday’s victory over Washington. Head coach Mark Daigneault said there are no long-term concerns with Holmgren’s back issue, per Jeff Patterson and Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman (subscriber link). “He’s where he should be,” Daigneault said before Thursday’s game. “We’re being conservative with him. If he was, obviously, perfect he would play tonight. But we’ll go through the process that we always go through.”
After missing the past two games with a sore back, Clippers guard Bradley Beal will be active for Friday’s contest vs. New Orleans, tweets Law Murray of The Athletic. Beal opened the season on a minutes restriction due to offseason knee surgery.
Although Jared McCain (thumb surgery) and Paul George (knee surgery) participated in the Sixers‘ practice on Thursday, both players will remain sidelined for Friday’s matchup against Boston, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link). In case you missed it, the 76ers picked up McCain’s third-year option on Thursday.

Injury Notes: Robinson, Joe, Garland, Collier, Barlow

October 30th, 2025 at 3:18pm CST by Luke Adams

Knicks center Mitchell Robinson went through a full practice on Thursday and head coach Mike Brown says he’ll be a game-time decision for Friday’s contest in Chicago, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter links).

Robinson has been held out of the first four games of the regular season with what New York has deemed left ankle injury management. There has been no indication from the Knicks that the 27-year-old big man has suffered a new injury or setback.

Robinson didn’t make his 2024/25 debut until February 28 while recovering from offseason ankle surgery and only played in 17 regular season contests down the stretch. He also appeared in 18 playoff games for New York last spring.

We have more injury updates from around the NBA:

Thunder wing Isaiah Joe will be available to make his season debut on Thursday vs. Washington, tweets Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman. After averaging a career-high 21.7 minutes per game in 74 outings for Oklahoma City last season, Joe has been inactive to open the 2025/26 campaign due to a left knee contusion.
Coming off toe surgery, Cavaliers guard Darius Garland isn’t facing any restrictions in practices and has been “scrimmaging and everything,” a source tells Spencer Davies of ClutchPoints. The team is being cautious with his return and won’t bring him back too early, but Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints recently reported that a return during the first half of November is very much in play for the two-time All-Star.
Second-year Jazz point guard Isaiah Collier has been cleared for full on-court work, the team announced today (via Twitter), adding that he’ll be assigned to the G League on Friday as he ramps up his conditioning ahead of his season debut. Collier has been sidelined while recovering from a right hamstring strain.
After starting the first two games of the season, Sixers forward Dominick Barlow has missed the past two and will remain out for at least two more due to his right elbow laceration, per the club (Twitter link via Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports). That means Barlow, who will be reevaluated early next week, won’t play against Boston on Friday or Brooklyn on Sunday.

Rory Maher contributed to this post.

Sixers Exercise Jared McCain’s 2026/27 Option

October 30th, 2025 at 12:30pm CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers have exercised the third-year option on Jared McCain‘s rookie scale contract, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

The move guarantees McCain’s $4,422,600 salary for the 2026/27 season. The team’s next decision on the guard’s contract will occur next fall, at which point his ’27/28 option worth roughly $6.84MM would need to be either picked up or turned down.

The No. 16 pick in the 2024 draft, McCain looked like one of the standouts of last year’s rookie class during the first two months of the 2024/25 season. He averaged 15.3 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.4 rebounds in 25.7 minutes per game on .460/.383/.875 shooting in 23 contests prior to suffering a season-ending injury — a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee, which required surgery — in December.

Although he has since recovered from that knee injury, McCain has yet to make his ’25/26 debut after undergoing thumb surgery a month ago. Once he’s ready to return, the 21-year-old will join an increasingly loaded Philadelphia backcourt that has been headed up by Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe on the team’s four-game winning streak to open the season.

The deadline for teams to exercise rookie scale team options is Friday. As our tracker shows, McCain’s was the only option the 76ers had to make a decision on.

Atlantic Notes: Poeltl, Raptors, Celtics, Minott, Sixers

October 30th, 2025 at 9:13am CST by Luke Adams

Raptors center Jakob Poeltl was inactive on Wednesday vs. Houston and is considered day-to-day with back tightness, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. While Wednesday’s contest was the first one Poeltl has missed this season, the injury has impacted his performance in the early going — he averaged just 6.5 points per night in his first four outings, and the Raptors were outscored during his time on the court in each of those games.

“It’s definitely affected him quite a bit,” head coach Darko Rajakovic said (Twitter link via Lewenberg). “He was not himself in those games. He was not moving the way we know that he can move and, definitely, his performance was not where we know Jak can be.”

Rajakovic hopes that Poeltl will benefit from a little rest and won’t have to manage the issue long-term. However, even when their starting center is available, the Raptors are short on size, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca, who notes that the issue was exacerbated against a big Rockets team with 6’8″ rookie Collin Murray-Boyles starting at center.

Toronto was out-rebounded on Wednesday by an astounding 53-22 margin in the 18-point loss, with Houston grabbing nearly as many offensive rebounds (17) as the Raptors did on the defensive end (18).

“I thought our guys were fighting, they were trying as much as they could,” Rajakovic said. “They just manhandled us inside the paint, and we did not have an answer for the rebounding.”

We have more from around the Atlantic:

The Celtics, who opened the year with their longest regular season losing streak since March 2023 (three games), are preaching patience as their newcomers get comfortable and new roles are established, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (subscription required). “We’ve got some guys who the information is comprehending, they’re learning,” Jaylen Brown said earlier this week. “They’re becoming better basketball players. I’m here to help our guys learn in that process as I’m trying to lead as well. It’s gonna take some time. We lost four All-Stars last season, we lost some big-time players. To replace those guys don’t happen overnight and it doesn’t happen in a week either.”
After getting their first win of the season on Monday, the Celtics made it two in a row with a decisive 20-point victory over Cleveland on Wednesday. Offseason free agent addition Josh Minott started both games and made a significant impact, averaging a double-double (13.0 PPG, 11.5 RPG) while registering an outrageous net rating of +44.4 in 61 total minutes. Minott, who didn’t play much during three years in Minnesota, called it a “blessing” to be in Boston, per Jay King of The Athletic. “They’re not really asking for much,” Minott said of the Celtics’ coaches. “Just do my best to defend the other team’s best player, rebound, defend and space the floor on offense. And truthfully, after that, they see everything as a plus. I’m just trying to hone in on what they expect out of me and just help my team to continue to look the best they can.”
In his latest mailbag for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Keith Pompey discusses a handful of Sixers-related topics, including Joel Embiid‘s minutes restriction and what the rotation might look like when Paul George and Jared McCain are healthy. In Pompey’s view, if the roster were fully healthy, the 76ers would start either Dominick Barlow or Kelly Oubre Jr. alongside George, Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe, with McCain, Quentin Grimes, Trendon Watford, and either Adem Bona or Andre Drummond among the first players off the bench.

Atlantic Notes: Nets, Powell, Wolf, Oubre, Watford, Robinson

October 28th, 2025 at 12:51pm CST by Luke Adams

The members of the Nets‘ organization who are prioritizing a “good pick” in the 2026 draft likely aren’t overly upset about the team’s 0-4 start, but head coach Jordi Fernandez wasn’t pleased with the compete level he saw from his club in a blowout loss to Houston on Monday, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post.

“I need consistency and urgency. And that’s got to be like something that we cannot decide if we’re doing it or not,” Fernandez said. “It’s a matter of who we want to be, right? Giving up 42 (first-quarter points) to start, it’s not great. It’s just unacceptable to take an NBA game for granted. And our guys are trying. They just don’t know how much harder and focused they can do things. And I believe they’ll keep taking those steps. A lot of it is just lack of experience.”

Only two of the Nets’ five 2025 first-round picks were active in Houston, with Egor Demin (plantar fascia) ruled out and Drake Powell and Danny Wolf assigned to the G League. Still, seven of the 12 players who saw the floor for Brooklyn are under 25 years old, and three others are just 26.

As Lewis writes, the challenge for the Nets as an organization this season will be to lose enough games to get that high draft pick coveted by management and ownership while not establishing the sort of hard-to-break habits that will negatively impact the team’s culture going forward.

“A lot of these teams that try to bottom out by tanking like Brooklyn is doing, they think there’s no consequences,” one player agent told Lewis. “You risk eroding the environment you’re trying to create.”

We have more from around the Atlantic:

Powell played just two minutes in the Nets‘ opener, while Wolf has yet to make his regular season debut. Both players have been dealing with ankle injuries, but Fernandez suggested on Monday that they’ll likely get a look in the NBA after they spend some time with Long Island in the G League and get healthy. “We have a plan for everybody. Sometimes, those plans have to be made on the go because we didn’t know they’d sprain their ankles,” Fernandez said, per Lewis. “They did. Now, they’re ready to practice. Now, they can get real practices. That’s very good that they can do that, so when we need them, they’re ready to go. I’m very happy with the resources we have, how we use them, and it’s good that they have this practice and then they can help us soon.”
While the backcourt duo of Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe has deservedly gotten much of the credit for the Sixers‘ hot start head coach Nick Nurse was effusive in his praise for the team’s third-leading scorer, Kelly Oubre Jr., after the forward racked up 25 points and 10 rebounds in Monday’s win over Orlando. As Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports tweets, Nurse raved about Oubre’s defensive versatility and effort on the boards. “Kelly was awesome,” Nurse said. “That was one of Kelly’s best games, if not his best game, as a Sixer. He was awesome from the beginning.” The 29-year-old is on an expiring $8.38MM contract and was considered a possible trade candidate during the offseason.
Forward Trendon Watford will make his Sixers debut on Tuesday in Washington, reports Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link). Watford, who signed with Philadelphia as a free agent over the summer, has been sidelined since training camp due to a right hamstring injury.
The Knicks have ruled out center Mitchell Robinson for a fourth straight game to open the season due to left ankle injury maintenance, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link). Robinson has yet to play this season despite no indication from the team that he suffered a new injury or a setback this month.

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