October 13, 2026
Colleen Claggett/for PhillyVoice
Can Sixers head coach Nick Nurse engineer a cohesive season in his fourth campaign in Philadelphia?
Back on May 12, I wrote the first Sixers mailbag of the 2026 offseason. I explained – again – why the Sixers should not be expected to find themselves in the mix for Giannis Antetokounmpo. I wrote about potential free-agency bargains, and how much spending power the Sixers would have available to them depending on whether or not Kelly Oubre Jr. and/or Quentin Grimes returned.
Fast forward five months and one day, and here we are. This is the last Sixers mailbag before the start of the 2026-27 campaign; the Sixers are officially one week away from kicking off their season at Madison Square Garden on the New York Knicks' ring night.
Clearly, much around here has changed in the last five months. What will not change: your questions being answered here, every Tuesday.
The time has come to dive into the final Sixers mailbag of this preseason:
From @MillerStephenA: Do analytics support the idea that, if the Sixers lean into a fast pace and transition-heavy offensive style, that alone is likely to improve their defense? You can imagine the impact of running an opponent into exhaustion – (1) less lift on their jump shots; (2) less energy to rebound (and also, less crashing the glass because they're already running back to stop transition offense); and (3) conserving energy from rim protectors who are often walking up the court during a guard-led fast break.
Playing with a fast pace and prioritizing transition offensive frequency have been two of the pillars of Sixers training camp this month – which should be no surprise given their many stellar transition players, from LeBron James and Jaylen Brown to Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe.
I asked James about the importance of tempo after his preseason debut, during which his hit-ahead passes were frequent and productive.
"I think it's always important just to be able to attack offensively before the defense is set," James said. "So anytime we can get some early transition points or early attacks against defenses that's not set, or you know, you've got VJ, you've got Tyrese, you've got JB, we're able to punch gaps, especially if they have a numbers advantage, or even a one-on-one advantage, the guys are not going to really be able to stay in front of them. So it's great we [connected] on a couple of them tonight."
Before that game, I asked Sixers head coach Nick Nurse the same question. He pointed out that the value of getting the ball across half-court quickly is not just about creating the typical numbers advantage or crossmatch. Even if it simply widens the floor and gives more space for whichever players are pushing the pace, that is a win for the Sixers.
"The ball travels faster through the pass. So I think if you do want to play with pace, being able to get it up the floor via the pass is always important," Nurse said. "I think the increased full-court pressure that's kind of developed over the last two seasons in the league – if you're getting jammed in the backcourt, you obviously can throw it ahead. Now you're playing in – maybe not [a] numbers advantage, but you're playing in smaller numbers, i.e., 4-on-4 or 3-on-3 or whatever. So that's always important, too."
Take a look at the numbers below, via Cleaning the Glass:
| Category | 2025-26 NBA average |
| Half-court points per play | .981 |
| Half-court frequency | 78.80% |
| Transition points per play | 1.258 |
| Transition frequency | 15.40% |
I hoped to perform some sort of complex statistical analysis in response to this question; in the process of attempting this I remembered why I write words instead. I did not find a significant correlation between transition frequency and defensive rating – at least during the 2025-26 NBA season
But I think it is fair to say that the more often the Sixers play in transition, the more efficient their offense will be – and as a result of having a more efficient offense, they will be able to set their defense more often, which will help them get stops. That is the most succinct way I can answer your question on top of the numbers above.
But no amount of offensive firepower can bail these Sixers out if they do not commit to the defensive end of the floor, where their personnel is not nearly as good.
"That's the most important thing because that's the hard part. The easy part, I feel like, will be figuring out the offensive stuff," Brown said. "It won’t be as hard because we've got so much talent. Get out in transition, go into a guy in the post, Maxey from the three-point line, VJ [can] attack the basket, take advantage of his matchup. LeBron is LeBron James. So defensively, I think that's where we've really got to make sure we take our hat on each and every night. Can't get so caught up and worried about how the offense is going. Got to make sure – clear communication, identifying coverages and holding each other accountable."
MORE: LeBron James cements himself as the Sixers' quarterback in preseason debut
From @_JustinAbraham_: What do you think the Sixers will do in the aftermath of Ariel Hukporti's injury? Will they go small at the five with the group of Dean Wade, Dominick Barlow, Jabari Walker and Adem Bona (LeBron if necessary) until around December? Or will Mike Gansey pull off a trade addressing the situation?
I touched on this a decent bit in this story shortly before Hukporti's season-ending diagnosis of a torn Achilles was confirmed, but now that it is official we may as well circle back. A good starting point for this discussion is how Nurse spoke about it after Wednesday's practice. He was asked if he was looking at Bona, Walker and Barlow as his primary options to play backup center minutes.
"Dean [Wade] would be another candidate," Nurse said. "I guess you can call him a small five. He's pretty good-sized. I think LeBron is another candidate. I think he's played some small-ball five as well. It's like four or five guys. So I think that we'll probably go with that crew unless something else emerges.”
Wade is not as strong as James, but given his age and mileage, keeping James away from the rigors of small-ball center minutes would be ideal. Wade has played there a lot in all three preseason games by necessity; in addition to Hukporti going down, the Sixers have been without Bona, Barlow and Tacko Fall so far. The offense has largely looked quite good with Wade at the five, especially considering it is likely not something the Sixers spent much time on at all during training camp.
The five-out look can be especially beneficial for Brown, whose one-on-one bucket-getting in the middle of the floor requires pristine spacing. Should Walker's recent growth as a three-point shooter sustain, it is hard to argue he is not the best small-ball option given his rebounding prowess. Whenever Barlow is healthy, his ability to switch will help him factor into this conversation, but he is considerably more productive when playing the four next to Joel Embiid.
Ultimately, the most obvious answer here is obvious for a reason: Bona will take on the bulk of the backup center minutes, and on nights Embiid does not play Nurse will mix and match. All of the aforementioned alternative options will be in play, and the Sixers still have a two-way contract to fill. Adding another big body will give Nurse some more optionality, particularly on the nights Embiid is out.
MORE: Before trade, Jaylen Brown went to Morocco with two soon-to-be teammates
