August 05, 2026
Colleen Claggett/For PhillyVoice
Nick Nurse has plenty of options at his disposal entering 2026-27.
One of the strongest assets a head coach can have in the NBA is one Nick Nurse will enjoy with the 2026-27 Sixers: optionality. Take it from one of the many players he will be moving around a whole lot.
"I think it's exciting, just knowing that we have the versatility to play a bunch of different lineups and have guys that can play a bunch of different spots," Dominick Barlow told PhillyVoice last week. "We might go really big depending on who we're playing, or we might go really small. So I think just having variety is definitely a positive thing."
With their major work of the summer finally over, the Sixers can begin thinking about training camp and the season ahead. For Nurse, with a five-headed monster of multi-positional starters in Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James and Joel Embiid, there will be many chances to experiment with different lineups.
The following five lineups could provide Nurse with different looks he can lean on in the season ahead. Each five-man unit will be accompanied by projected per-100-possession numbers, via Basketball Index's custom lineup tool.
Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Dean Wade, Dominick Barlow, Joel Embiid
| Projected Offensive Rating | Projected Defensive Rating | Projected Net Rating |
| 121.7 | 110.1 | +11.6 |
The ultimate benefit of the Sixers' assembly of capable high-usage offensive players is that Nurse can stagger them throughout the game, always having multiple high-caliber scorers on the floor at once. But Basketball Index's tool shares a common fear: that the Sixers' projected starting lineup will experience significant diminishing returns.
The primary takeaway from this exercise: Dean Wade, a very good and versatile defender capable of impacting the game with little to no offensive usage, will be a massive piece of this puzzle. So, too, will Dominick Barlow, a slightly less versatile player positionally but another one capable of impacting winning while leaving usage on the table for others. The lineup above benefits from both of those players' exploits, and the lineup tool suggests the Sixers would be better off balancing on-ball and off-ball utility as much as possible:
Some interesting results playing around with @The_BBall_Index's custom lineup tool. Pretty tame projections for the Sixers' projected starting five... and much better numbers when Dean Wade or Dominick Barlow is involved. This is why Nick Nurse is going to do a ton of staggering: pic.twitter.com/K8DaKWA65M
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) August 2, 2026
The Sixers will try as many combinations of their stars as possible throughout the season, but no pairing is as secure as the pairing of Embiid and Maxey. The team's longtime cornerstones have developed one of the most lethal two-man games in the recent history of the NBA, and this unit is designed to allow them to lean fully into that dynamic. Edgecombe adds secondary ball-handling and spot-up shooting.
Tyrese Maxey, Anfernee Simons, Dean Wade, LeBron James, Adem Bona
| Projected Offensive Rating | Projected Defensive Rating | Projected Net Rating |
| 119.0 | 116.2 | +2.8 |
James playing with four shooters or three shooters and a roller has been one of the most reliable sources of offense in NBA history. This lineup does not project to get stops at an above-average clip, but it would be incredibly challenging to stop from scoring. In a unit like this, James can play a traditional point guard; Maxey will benefit enormously from increased opportunities to get off the ball.
Between one of the best off-ball guards in the NBA in Maxey and one of the league's elite three-point shooters in Simons, defenses will find themselves in binds trying to account for James' downhill driving force and the threat of those two guards. Because this figures to be a unit which struggles some defensively – the trio of Maxey, Simons and James is not ideal on that end of the floor – Wade is a sensible fit. In addition to his hard rolls to the rim and presenting a lob threat, Adem Bona can be a helpful shot-blocker behind faulty point-of-attack defenders.
MORE: Will Mike Gansey make one more trade before start of season?
VJ Edgecombe, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Dean Wade, Dominick Barlow, Joel Embiid
| Projected Offensive Rating | Projected Defensive Rating | Projected Net Rating |
| 116.9 | 111.8 | +5.1 |
One of the primary concerns about the 2026-27 Sixers is how their makeup will impact Edgecombe's development. He was on the ball much more than expected across 3,000 minutes as a rookie, and he made massive strides. There is no question Edgecombe has the requisite abilities to be an extremely additive two-way role player – that is special for a 21-year-old – but perhaps the Sixers will try to find pockets of games to give him chances to play point guard again.
The lineup above revolves around Embiid, of course, but entrusts Edgecombe with significant ball-handling duties. At times last year, Edgecombe and Embiid appeared to be forming a strong two-man game; perhaps that rapport will continue to grow in Edgecombe's sophomore campaign.
Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, Dean Wade, LeBron James, Dominick Barlow
| Projected Offensive Rating | Projected Defensive Rating | Projected Net Rating |
| 115.0 | 110.9 | +4.1 |
The clear weak point of this roster right now is backup center, with Bona and Ariel Hukporti being unproven options behind Embiid. The Sixers have some alternative options at the position, and three of them make up the frontcourt in this lineup. All of Wade, James and Barlow can slide up to the five – so can Jabari Walker – and in this unit, they would be able to tag-team the responsibilities that come with playing center.
This lineup would have tons of switchability on the perimeter, and the fact that Wade and James are both strong rebounders can help account for Barlow's defensive rebounding lagging behind his offensive rebounding.
SIXERS SIGN LEBRON JAMES
James' decision | Projecting Sixers' rotation | James' impact, on and off the court
Anfernee Simons, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, Dean Wade, Adem Bona
| Projected Offensive Rating | Projected Defensive Rating | Projected Net Rating |
| 118.6 | 117.4 | +1.2 |
James coming to Philadelphia means the Sixers do not need Brown's self-created scoring as much as they did when acquiring the five-time All-Star from the Boston Celtics. But Brown finished sixth in NBA MVP voting last season because he amassed scoring volume rarely matched. The Sixers, especially when James and/or Embiid is sidelined, will benefit from Brown's ability to completely carry a unit's offense. Lineups designed to ignite Brown's one-on-one scoring should include as much perimeter shooting as possible to enhance the spacing around him:
If the Sixers can establish their spacing even close to as well as the Boston Celtics do, it will allow Jaylen Brown to thrive as a one-on-one scorer: pic.twitter.com/QPkb4H8zMF
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) July 4, 2026
Brown was not treated all that well by Basketball Index's tool, another example of analytical models believing the 2024 NBA Finals MVP is not nearly as impactful as his counting stats might indicate – even the whopping 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists he averaged per game last season.
There is no question that Brown's ball-dominant style – with many turnovers and little to no playmaking for others – makes him a problematic centerpiece of an NBA offense. But the Sixers can ask him to play that way in spurts, keeping them afloat for minutes or games at a time.
SIXERS FILM STUDIES
Jaylen Brown's strengths | Jaylen Brown's weaknesses
Anfernee Simons | Dean Wade | Ariel Hukporti
