Are the 2026-27 Sixers going to look much different than the team that beat the Boston Celtics in the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs before being swept by the New York Knicks?

Daryl Morey is out after six years of running basketball operations in Philadelphia, and his successor has been identified: Mike Gansey, set to take over in short order. But head coach Nick Nurse is returning for a fourth season, coaching a roster that figures to be quite similar to the one he handled last year. Given the difficulty of making trades with a cap sheet like the one Morey built, the Sixers have very few avenues to make considerable changes.

In yesterday's Sixers mailbag, I went rapid fire and answered more questions than usual. As I wrote in that story, the volume and wide-ranging nature of questions asked this week speaks to the number of issues Gansey has to face immediately upon stepping into the chair Morey vacated.  

How about a bonus mailbag?

From @rjankowich.bsky.social: With all the tools available (exceptions, stretch provisions, draft, etc) how would Sixers Adam handle this offseason looking at not just 2027, but the longer term as well?

You ask the right question with the right framing. This offseason is not merely about bolstering the 2026-27 Sixers roster as much as possible, as having a singular focus there could quickly damage the long-term (figurative) health of the organization.

The makeup of the Sixers' cap sheet – with no medium-sized salaries on the books aside from that of soon-to-be sophomore guard VJ Edgecombe – does not lend itself to massive trades to begin with.

The best chance incoming President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey has of meaningfully changing his new roster via trade in his first offseason would be finding a taker on Paul George and splitting up the nine-time All-Star's $55 million salary slot into two or three depth pieces.

Given the enormity of George's contract and the frequency with which he misses games, it will be a major challenge to pull off such a deal. A deal with that framework would give the Sixers a deeper rotation, but not necessarily a better team; none of the players coming back would be nearly as impactful as George can be.

So, without any realistic pathway to making considerable short-term gains, I would be focused on maintaining what has become a pretty strong base of long-term assets.

On the player side, it starts with 25-year-old Tyrese Maxey and the 20-year-old Edgecombe, but there is more here, too. Dominick Barlow is entering his age-23 season. Quentin Grimes, if he returns, will be doing so for his age-26 season. There is still hope for Justin Edwards, 22, and Adem Bona, 23, to become reliable rotation pieces. The same is true for Jabari Walker, whose 24th birthday comes this summer.

In terms of draft picks, the Sixers are (likely) out one future first-rounder; they owe their 2028 first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets with a top-eight protection (if that pick fell within its protected range, though, the Sixers would not have to send the Nets a replacement first-rounder). But they own the Los Angeles Clippers' unprotected first-rounder that same year. They are among the NBA leaders in future second-round picks.

My main focus would be not detracting from that collection of assets that can provide the organization value in the years to come.

What does that actually mean for transactions in the summer ahead? If Quentin Grimes and Kelly Oubre Jr. can be brought back at reasonable prices – where there is not a risk of the Sixers having another onerous long-term contract on their books – they should be kept around. If there is a George trade on the table that breaks up his salary slot into three reliable rotation pieces, I would only consider it if it does not subtract from the pool of longer-term assets.

Otherwise, I would work on the margins. Perhaps it would be a smart bet to cash in a few of those distant second-rounders to acquire a player with a chance of becoming a rotation fixture. The Sixers had a flawed roster in 2025-26, in part because of how weak the last five spots were. Having players reliably capable of stepping in at a moment's notice in those spots should be a priority. If the Sixers have real conviction about a free agent, they could let both Grimes and Oubre walk and utilize the full non-taxpayer's mid-level exception, but their depth would be even more challenged at that point.

It is easy to understand why a new lead executive might want to make a splash in their first offseason. But for Gansey, staying the course might be the most prudent path – at least for this summer.

MORE: Answering rapid-fire questions ahead of Gansey's hiring

From @HojoTakeda: What was your favorite interaction this season with a player or coaching staff member?

I will start with a few stories I relished reporting:

• When Jabari Walker met with reporters for the first time after signing a two-way contract with the Sixers, I found his perspective to be quite impressive. Some second-generation athletes are stereotypically self-centered, but others are armed with a unique awareness of what they need to do to be successful. Walker is in the latter category.

In an effort to learn more about Walker, I had a lengthy phone interview with his father, Samaki, a 10-year NBA veteran who was diligent in preparing his son to make it to the NBA. It was one of the most interesting interviews I have ever conducted. Samaki was open and honest about the ups and downs of raising a child as an NBA player, and about the challenges his son was facing heading into the season.

• I enjoyed talking to Jared McCain about his relationship with Stephen Curry, which prompted this story before the Sixers' annual trip to San Francisco to face the Warriors. McCain's admiration for Curry has been evident for a long time, both in how he talks about the greatest shooter in NBA history and how the 21-year-old plays. I did not expect that conversation to be my last with McCain as a member of the Sixers, but days later he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. I am glad to have gotten that story in at the buzzer.

• My favorite story to report out this season was an oral history of the "Seven Sixers" game, when a rookie Tyrese Maxey scored 39 points in his first NBA start with only six teammates available. I talked to Maxey extensively about that bizarre day, how it kickstarted his growth and the lessons he has learned since on his way to become an All-Star starter and an All-NBA honoree for the first time.

Before talking to Maxey, I tracked down three of the other Seven Sixers. First, I went to the visitor's locker room before a Sixers-Pacers game and chatted with Tony Bradley, one of two bench players in that game in 2021. Bradley, it turned out, was about to be waived by Indiana; consider that another buzzer-beater. I spoke with two other participants from that game, Dakota Mathias and Danny Green, over the phone.

Mathias' perspective was especially interesting; that game was his first and only NBA start and makes up a considerable portion of the minutes he has played in the league. Green, a decorated veteran in the league, had tremendous insight about Maxey's growth as a player and a leader, especially because he briefly returned to the Sixers for the start of Maxey's fourth campaign.

• In March, I went to a Delaware Blue Coats game to watch Zhaire Smith, the former Sixers first-round pick, play for the OKC Blue. I spoke with Smith after the game about his life-threatening allergic reaction, his continued efforts to make it back to the NBA, the infamous Mikal Bridges trade and why he is glad to be on his specific journey.

A few more random anecdotes, not exactly tied to rigorous reporting processes, that come to mind:

• During the second half of the season, Kelly Oubre Jr. started giving me his extra wristbands and arm sleeves before home games. I would bring them to an usher near the Sixers' tunnel named Charles. Charles would find kids that had not received any autographs or pictures from players that day and give them the bands or sleeves. I am not sure how this became a ritual of sorts, but kudos to Oubre and kudos to Charles.

• During the off day in between Games 1 and 2 of the Sixers' second-round series against the New York Knicks, I took the subway to Brooklyn to walk the Brooklyn Bridge. I was aiming to get my mind away from the series and the Sixers for an evening. As I neared the bridge, I looked down at my phone as I sent a text message. I looked up and saw a Sixers assistant coach. We were equally shocked to see each other that far away from Madison Square Garden.

• McCain was a treat to talk about music with; he would frequently play songs in the locker room while reporters were around. I recommended an album to him once – "Are You Happy Now?" by Jensen McRae, one of my favorite artists – and a week later, McCain had a positive review.

"That was a good put-on," McCain said to me. "I didn't expect that from media."

MORE: Trading Maxey to start over would be crazy... right?