Normally our Sixers mailbags go live every Tuesday morning, but with a whole lot of news to unpack over the last few days and some important changes coming on Wednesday night, a slight change was made to this week's schedule. Wednesday answers it will be!

The Sixers hope Wednesday's home game against the Chicago Bulls will represent their first major checkpoint in a series of incremental steps towards reaching full strength. Only 10 games remain on the team's 2025-26 regular-season schedule, with two playoff spots up for grabs in a packed Eastern Conference.

What will Paul George's role look like upon returning to action on Wednesday, and how will it impact VJ Edgecombe's recent growth playing on the ball? Come playoff time, what will the Sixers' best lineup be?

Let's dive into your questions:

From @kellenpastore.bsky.social: When Paul George returns, how will he be mixed into the offensive flow without Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid? Will the Sixers prioritize winning, or getting VJ Edgecombe experience as the lead ball-handler? Or is it possible that those are one and the same?

Who better to ask this to than George himself? On Tuesday afternoon, George was asked if he is eager to be more assertive offensively upon returning to play given how many of his higher-usage teammates are sidelined.

"That’s kind of how I view it, just to be aggressive again, get back to – again, like I said earlier, I've been feeling great preparing and working out and staying in shape," George said. "I've been feeling great, feeling explosive again, feeling strong again. And so I feel like I'm back on that level of being able to perform and be the focal guy and be the scorer. So that's my mindset going into tomorrow, is to get back to being aggressive. Obviously, there will be some rust, with missing 25 games, especially in this part of the season where guys are playing playoff basketball, so to speak. So there will be a little rust but I'm just looking forward to just being full-fledged, thrown out there, being in the mix, and just being aggressive. Whatever happens, happens. But I'm looking to go out there and do what I do and do what I've done over my career."

George's underwhelming Sixers tenure has, frankly, suggested that it is not a viable strategy to expect him to look like the superstar of old. He had been more prone to strong offensive performances this season than he was last year, when he exhibited no scoring upside. But his explosiveness has never looked the same since he suffered a left knee bone bruise in his first preseason with the team.

While it might not be advisable for the Sixers to be banking on a 35-year-old turning the clock back after two partial seasons of clear regression from his peak, what better option do they have?

Edgecombe is still going to be the primary ball-handler for the Sixers while Maxey is out, and when George joins him there will be more than enough touches to go around. Before the Sixers' season began to fall into a state of disarray, lineups anchored by Edgecombe and George gave new life to the Sixers' second unit. There is still a vision there, particularly as Edgecombe appears to level up as a scorer late in his rookie season.

But in the meantime, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse has made it clear: his lone focus each night is trying to win the game in front of him. George, even if he is an imperfect player these days, even if he is rusty, even if he is not worth what the Sixers are paying him, is an immediate upgrade alongside Edgecombe. The Sixers badly need the gravity he brings to the table as a three-point shooter, and they also are in need of some steadier sources of half-court offense. Edgecombe has fared far better than most would have expected without Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid or Kelly Oubre Jr. available, but this team is enormously limited offensively for as long as he and Quentin Grimes are the lone shot creators with any level of consistency.

MORE: George's full media availability

From @asudano321: With PG and Embid returning to the lineup soon, what do you think the Sixers' best five-man lineup is when healthy? I like Maxey, Grimes, Oubre, PG, Embid. Do you think VJ be closing games in the playoffs?

At this point, Edgecombe should be considered just as much of a lock to be in Nurse's starting and closing lineups as Embiid, Maxey and George are. Nurse has said all along that the 20-year-old's first NBA season would be a success based on volume of minutes, and by that measure it has been an overwhelming victory. Nurse has not gone this far only to keep Edgecombe on the bench in the biggest moments of playoff games.

The real question, then, is who has the inside track on being the fifth member of the Sixers' key lineup surrounding Maxey, Edgecombe, George and Embiid? The candidates are obvious: Oubre, Grimes and Dominick Barlow. Each player's case includes distinct pros and cons, but first it is worth looking at what the numbers say about the various combinations. All numbers are courtesy of Cleaning The Glass, which filters out garbage time:

The obvious answer to this question is probably Oubre, who has the most trust as a two-way role player with some experience in big games for the Sixers and plenty of reps alongside their key players over the years. He is arguably the most reliable player of this trio; his track record is certainly the most extensive. Generally speaking, the Sixers' best offensive lineups this season have had Embiid, Oubre and three players who are better three-point shooters than them. This would qualify as such a unit. An update on Oubre should be coming very shortly – he has missed the last two weeks with a left elbow sprain – but if he can get back on the floor with enough time to ramp up before the playoffs, Oubre will be a significant piece of this puzzle in some way, shape or form.

While Barlow is the member of this trio of role players with the most obvious concerns in a playoff setting – he is just about a non-shooter, and it stands to reason opposing teams will not guard him on the perimeter in postseason games – he is the one with far and away the most experience and the most success playing alongside this particular foursome of players. Embiid is always going to be a force multiplier who makes his teammates better, but he is a particularly uplifting frontcourt partner for Barlow, who has become a tremendous fit next to the former NBA MVP. While Barlow may not be a starter when (if?) the Sixers get back to full strength this season, Nurse should look to ensure the vast majority of his minutes come alongside Embiid. Perhaps starting Barlow is the easiest way to do that, and figuring out the closing look can be done later.

Ironically, the most encouraging number here probably belongs to the Grimes lineup, which has been inexplicably poor offensively in a very small sample but held up very well defensively. Even if that standout defensive outlook regresses a bit, the offense will come around. That such a small lineup has not just been able to tread water, but actually thrive on the defensive end, is encouraging. Grimes is clearly the best spot-up three-point shooter the Sixers could place in this spot, and while he will not start alongside Maxey and Edgecombe over both Oubre and Barlow, he could be the option Nurse lands on when it comes to closing games.

In reality, so much of who closes on any given night is dependent on performances within that individual game and matchup-based decision-making. If the Sixers face the Cleveland Cavaliers, for example, they might need Barlow on the floor to combat the double-big look presented by Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. If they find themselves matched up with the Boston Celtics, playing George and Oubre together to face Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in the highest-leverage minutes would make more sense. But against the Detroit Pistons, they could optimize their spacing with Grimes on the floor and have George defend Cade Cunningham.

There are going to be plenty of moving parts on both sides of any postseason game or series the Sixers play. Ultimately, Nurse will likely not be able to fully commit to anything. Being quick on your feet is a must as an NBA head coach these days.

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