With NBA training camps right around the corner, ESPN is rolling out the latest edition of its annual NBA Rank exercise, which ranks players “based on predicted contributions—quality and quantity—for the 2026-27 regular season.“
Unsurprisingly, the Sixers’ starting five was well-represented. Here’s where they checked in this year:
- 72. VJ Edgecombe (unranked last year)
- 41. Joel Embiid (47th last year)
- 18. LeBron James (eighth last year)
- 14. Jaylen Brown (19th last year)
- 11. Tyrese Maxey (28th last year)
No other Sixers players made the list.
Before getting too bent out of shape about where any of the Sixers landed here—Embiid in particular—it’s again worth emphasizing that ESPN’s panel factored in “quality and quantity” of predicted contributions this coming season when building these rankings. Vince Goodwill specifically brought that up in Embiid’s writeup.
“When Embiid plays, he’s productive and must be accounted for on every scouting report—a shoo-in for 27 points and eight boards and a matchup nightmare with his ability to score at all three levels,” Goodwill wrote. “But ‘when he plays’ is still an issue, the biggest question mark for whether this talent-laden 76ers experiment can lead to a run through May. Since winning MVP in 2023, he has played in a possible 96 of 246 games.”
For context, Embiid landed directly ahead of Rudy Gobert, De’Aaron Fox, Trae Young, Franz Wagner and Brandon Miller and right behind Anthony Davis (a fellow walking injury risk), Kyire Irving, Stephon Castle, Austin Reaves and Paolo Banchero.
No one in their right mind would argue that Banchero is a better player than Embiid at this stage of their respective careers, but it’s fair to bet on Banchero playing significantly more minutes than Embiid this season. The Sixers haven’t outright proclaimed that Embiid won’t be playing in back-to-backs this year like they did ahead of their ill-fated 2024-25 campaign, but it’s safe to assume that he’s going to miss 20-plus games.
What ESPN’s NBA Rank got wrong
If nothing else, this exercise makes you appreciate just how stacked the NBA is these days. Zion Williamson fell outside of the top 50, although much like Embiid, availability concerns largely fueled that. Desmond Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Trey Murphy III were all in the 50s as well.
With that said, there’s a non-zero chance that Edgecombe’s spot at No. 72 will look laughably low in retrospect.
Perhaps he will get lost in the mix as the Sixers’ fifth option behind Embiid, Maxey, LeBron and Brown this season. Thanks to their offseason additions, the Sixers should be able to keep his playing time more in check this year after he averaged 35.0 minutes per game as a rookie. (That ranked 11th in the NBA. Canadian Thibs strikes again.)
Then again, with Embiid and James likely to miss 10-plus games during the regular season, there’s a chance that the Sixers wind up riding Edgecombe’s young legs yet again.
We’ve been fooled by Offseason Workout Video SZN one too many times in Philly, but Edgecombe appears to have vastly improved both his shooting stroke and handle. Thanks to the Sixers’ wealth of talent, he should also be able to conserve more energy on offense and devote more attention to being a defensive menace this season.
Putting Edgecombe behind post-Achilles-tear Damian Lillard (69th), the oft-injured Paul George (67th) and the-lights-were-too-bright Jarrett Allen (63rd) might be a major mistake.
What ESPN’s NBA Rank got right
Three Sixers in the top 20? Not bad for a fringe-top-10 team.
ESPN is unveiling the top 10 of its rankings on Thursday, but for perspective, here’s what 11-20 looks like:
11. Tyrese Maxey
12. Stephen Curry
13. Kevin Durant
14. Jaylen Brown
15. Kawhi Leonard
16. Karl-Anthony Towns
17. Scottie Barnes
18. LeBron James
19. Tyrese Haliburton
20. Devin Booker
Indiana Pacers fans should feel rightfully aggrieved about Tyrese Haliburton’s place on that list, even though he’s somewhat of a mystery box after missing the entire 2025-26 season due to an Achilles injury. But having Maxey right above Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant? Brown above Kawhi Leonard? If anything, ESPN’s panel might have been overly aggressive with where some of the Sixers rank based on the “predicted contributions” criteria. After all, the Sixers have a lot of mouths to feed this season.
But after Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment president Bob Myers bemoaned the Sixers’ lack of identity earlier this offseason, it’s now clear where their bread will be buttered. Their starting five should be an elite offensive unit.
This is LeBron’s first time ever falling outside of the top 10 in ESPN’s NBA Rank, but the man is turning 42 in December. His f–kery really won’t go on forever… right? After all, he played a career-low 33.2 minutes per game last season and tied his career low with only 20.9 points per game. Given the Sixers’ wealth of talent, they shouldn’t need him to average 25-plus points like he did throughout most of his Hall of Fame career.
Brown landing at 14th—one spot ahead of Kawhi Leonard—might raise some eyebrows, especially after all of the insufferable analytics discourse this offseason. However, ESPN’s voting panel is not suggesting that Brown is a better basketball player than Leonard. It weighed availability as part of its criteria as well. With that in mind, there’s a real case to be made that Brown will outproduce Leonard during the regular season.
Nikola Jokić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Dončić, Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards, Donovan Mitchell, Cade Cunningham and Jayson Tatum will comprise ESPN’s top 10 in some order. If you want to argue that Maxey belongs in there ahead of Mitchell, go right ahead. But again, the Sixers having so many mouths to feed could bring down all of their individual production.
If nothing else, at least ESPN’s panel didn’t leave Embiid out of the top 100 entirely… unlike some other ragebait platform did last year.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.
