With the 2025-26 Sixers season officially in the rearview mirror, all attention now turns to yet another pivotal offseason.

As this franchise enters the summer of 2026, it possesses some incredibly talented players, one of the most attractive young backcourts in recent memory and has a rather strong collection of draft picks. After a thrilling seven-game series victory against the 56-win Boston Celtics and a second-round sweep at the hands of the New York Knicks, it will be an immense challenge to parse just how high the ceiling is for this group.

With two of the league's most onerous contracts on their books and little avenue to become a considerably better team as a result, many would describe this iteration of the Sixers as being stuck: too good to acquire any additional franchise-altering talents through the draft and not good enough to seriously compete for a championship. The team might argue that its performance against Boston proves there is significant upside here; skeptics would point to the Knicks series as evidence that it is not sustainable.

So, what happens next? The first 5 Sixers thoughts of the 2026 offseason previews the outlook for the summer ahead:

Decisions on Daryl Morey and Nick Nurse

Before the Sixers have to make any trades, signings or draft picks, they must choose who has the final say when all of those decisions arrive. And, nearly six years after he was first hired, Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey appeared to be facing genuine uncertainty from a job security perspective for the first time. But the Sixers beating the Celtics, in many ways, justifies Morey's vision.

The Sixers quieted brief speculation that head coach Nick Nurse could be let go after last season's disastrous 24-58 campaign. Now that Nurse has gone three seasons without a deep playoff run, it is easier to hear the whispers about his seat warming. Before the Sixers' 3-1 series comeback against Boston, The Athletic reported that Nurse was "widely believed to be under pressure," not a surprise given how troubling the last two years have been in particular, but he coached his best three games since arriving in Philadelphia to win that series.

The Sixers upending Boston bodes well for the chances of both Morey and Nurse returning next season, but the following series being so disappointing means it cannot be ruled out that ownership decides to make changes.

MORE: Eliminated by Boston yet again, Sixers still have work to do

Players under guaranteed contracts

The following players have their 2026-27 salaries locked in:

Joel Embiid has become the poster child for what people resent about the state of the Sixers, and it has become commonplace to see those folks suggest the Sixers simply wash their hands of the experience by trading Embiid. With Embiid's infamous three-year supermax contract extension just about to kick in, trading him is not a concept worth thinking about all that much – even after an admirable playoff resurgence, there is no reason to assume another team would be willing to pay him nearly $200 million during that span given how infrequently he plays – even after he led the Sixers past Boston with the most impressive stretch of playoff basketball in his career.

serieCould the next-best thing be ditching Paul George, whose deal runs for one fewer season and is worth a bit less money annually? George is a year away from being one of the largest expiring contracts in NBA history, and he will be easier to trade then. But perhaps if a team buys his post-suspension surge and the Sixers are willing to take a deal that does not look all that appetizing on paper, they could bail on the nine-time All-Star if they wanted to.

Then there are the guards, who represent the most hopeful aspect of this franchise. Tyrese Maxey, who will soon be named to an All-NBA team for the first time, is entering his seventh NBA season and the third year of his five-year max contract.

Maxey is here to stay, and he has his backcourt mate locked in: VJ Edgecombe, whose fantastic rookie season solidified the 20-year-old as an unquestioned building block for the organization.

The Sixers also have two youngsters with fully-guaranteed salaries for 2026-27: Johni Broome will make $2,150,597 next season and Justin Edwards will make $2,048,494. They also own the No. 22 overall pick; if they stay there and make a selection their rookie would have a guaranteed salary, projected to be $3,597,840.

Contracts without full guarantees, team options

Then come some decisions for the Sixers, most of which have to be made before free agency begins. A breakdown of the players whose fates are, to some degree, in the Sixers' hands:

Of these five players, the one least likely to be on the 2026-27 Sixers is Dalen Terry, whose last-minute standard contract to replace the injured Cam Payne included a team option. Terry is well-liked within the Sixers, but the only way his option will realistically be picked up is if the Sixers want to make a trade and use him as salary filler. Terry could always have his option declined and then eventually re-sign on a veteran's minimum contract, but the Sixers will not guarantee him a salary and roster spot before free agency shakes out.

The Sixers could aim to hammer out a multi-year deal with Dominick Barlow, one of the most significant scouting and developmental successes. By inflating his salary when signing the 22-year-old to a standard contract in February, the Sixers opened up an avenue to use Barlow's non-Bird rights if he wants to lock in some additional financial security. That could mean a three-year deal worth about $11.3 million or a four-year deal worth approximately $15.4 million, but if Barlow and his representation do not see those offers being worth their while, the Sixers can simply pick up their team option. It would set Barlow up to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Then there is Trendon Watford, whose team option is worth a hair more than the minimum salary. The Sixers could decline Watford's option and immediately re-sign him on a minimum deal to save some money against the luxury tax threshold and aprons. They have made similar moves in the past, including with Eric Gordon last summer. It would save the Sixers about $350,000, which is not as insignificant as it sounds. Instead of being trade-eligible all summer, though, Watford would not be able to be dealt until Dec. 15. On the court, Watford is a fringe rotation piece whose close friendship with Maxey could do him some favors. He is worth keeping around on a minuscule salary if the Sixers still have a vision for an unorthodox point forward fitting into their offseason.

While Adem Bona has not progressed quite as much as some would have hoped for, he has shown enough promise to justify the Sixers picking him at No. 41 overall in 2024. The guess here is that the Sixers keep him around past his July 7 guarantee date and into the regular season, with pressure intensifying as he enters his third season.

Then there is Jabari Walker, whose standard deal after obliterating expectations on a two-way deal was not as favorable as Barlow's. The Sixers do not need to waive or trade Walker at any point unless they need the roster spot open for somebody else. He should expect to be a member of the organization through the summer regardless of whether or not it expects him to be a contributor. He did enough this season to appeal to the Sixers as a cost-effective frontcourt piece.

MORE: Nick Nurse's future, playoff hypotheticals and more

Trade rules

The Sixers do not have any players on medium-sized salaries heading into the offseason, so their avenues to make trades will be limited. They could theoretically use any of the players listed above as assets, though in order to land a player capable of making a difference they might need to stack several of them on top of each other in the deal just to make the money work.

One rule worth keeping in mind: if the Sixers take back more salary than they send out in any trade – even by one penny – they will be hard-capped at the first apron for the entire league year. That is not an easy hard cap to work around for a team with three max contracts to pay and, even if the Sixers keep the possibility open that they end the season under that line, they will not force themselves into it as early in the league year as June or July.

The Sixers do have a trade exception worth just over $4.2 million, courtesy of the Jared McCain trade, which expires in February. Using that would also trigger a first-apron hard cap, so it is unlikely the Sixers will touch it before the season begins.

MORE: Sixers future draft pick tracker

Free agents and financial spending power

Four members of the Sixers' standard roster are set to be unrestricted free agents this summer.

Andre Drummond has been a great soldier amid very difficult circumstances; most players would voice frustration toggling back and forth between starting and being out of the rotation but Drummond just did whatever was asked of him. He remains a terrific rebounder and legitimately added a new dynamic to his game in the form of three-point shooting from the corners. Drummond's two-year, $10 million deal is now over with, and at this point he might be a minimum player. If he is amenable to a return at that price point, the Sixers could consider a reunion.

(It is too early to think too much about this, but Drummond is also a candidate for a "balloon payment" in which the Sixers sign him to a deal with an inflated salary for the purposes of facilitating a trade. This made sense when the Sixers did it two years ago, but it backfired.)

There is also 40-year-old Kyle Lowry, who said after the end of last season that he wanted to play one more season and do it for his hometown team. Lowry has had a tremendous vocal presence within the Sixers, instrumental in Maxey's development as a leader and the growth of many young players. The expectation, until Lowry says otherwise, should be that he is going to retire after 20 NBA seasons.

That leaves two key names set to hit the open market.

One is Quentin Grimes, who has successfully reached unrestricted free agency after playing the 2025-26 season on his qualifying offer after a fruitless trip to restricted free agency last summer caused him to change representation. With McCain no longer in the fold, Grimes is a more essential piece of this; he is far from irreplaceable but there is no longer a built-in replacement for minutes as the team's third guard. Grimes likely did not do much to alter his market value in either direction with a playoff performance that was unspectacular but included a few standout showings.

"We talked to his representation quite a bit through this period," Morey said after the trade deadline. "Obviously, who knows exactly what the future brings, but we think he's a tremendous fit with our other guards, a two-way player, and we hope to re-sign him."

The other primary free agent is Kelly Oubre Jr., who earlier in the playoffs pumped his first when it was mentioned that he has become one of the longest-tenured Sixers. He is a better balloon payment candidate than Drummond, but he is also a much better and more useful player who will be in greater demand. Oubre is imperfect, but provides some lineup flexibility and general certainty as far as what the Sixers can expect from a rotation wing.

Of course, Sixers fans know by now that the luxury tax threshold – teams spending in excess of it on player salaries incur additional taxes, but do not face any team-building restrictions – is also a relevant factor here. The Sixers are more than comfortable beginning seasons over the tax line, as long as it is not by so much that they cannot duck under it before the trade deadline.

Depending on how the decisions shake out with team options and contracts that are not fully-guaranteed, the Sixers project to have somewhere between $14 million and $19 million in room below the tax line before making any commitments to free agents. How does that impact Grimes and Oubre? A relevant excerpt from a Sixers mailbag earlier this season about the two swingmen:

"[T]here is absolutely a path to both players being back, and there is even a path to both players being back and the Sixers ending next season below the tax line if they continue to prioritize that. It is too early to forecast exactly what the market will look like for either player, both in terms of interested suitors and potential contract length and average annual value. The most reasonable projection would probably have Grimes in the range of $10 to $12 million per year on a multi-year deal and Oubre closer to the $8 million range on a one- or two-year deal – the Sixers should have interest in both players if those estimates prove true – but all it takes is one team to drive the price higher than that, and to a place the Sixers are not willing to go. Grimes is likely more of a flight risk than Oubre given his ceiling in Philadelphia is a sixth man, he should have more suitors as a younger player and he has already had a deeply unpleasant experience negotiating with the Sixers."

If the Sixers let one of Oubre and Grimes walk, they would be able to easily use the taxpayer's mid-level exception, worth a maximum of two years and $12.4 million. If both walk, the Sixers could dabble with using the non-taxpayer's mid-level exception, which projects to go up to a maximum of four years and $64.7 million. That would trigger a first-apron hard cap, but that might be easier to stomach if Oubre and Grimes are replaced by one substantial contributor.

MORE: Will Oubre and Grimes return next season?