The Philadelphia 76ers got knocked out of the NBA playoffs in just about the worst way possible.
They upset the Boston Celtics in the first round, only to be swept by the New York Knicks just days later, punctuated by a humiliating 144-114 blowout at home in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
The loss capped off a brutal postseason in which the franchise became the only team in NBA history to drop four playoff games by 30-plus points in a single year.
The 76ers have now gone 25 seasons without a Conference Finals appearance. Daryl Morey is out after six years. And one enormous question is left hanging over everything: what happens to Joel Embiid?
That question now lands on the desk of Mike Gansey, Philadelphia’s newly minted President of Basketball Operations, who wasted no time answering it on 97.5 The Fanatic’s “Middays with Marks.”
“Joel is ours right now,” Gansey said. “I have had great conversations with him … We just have to get Joel on the court. He is still a dominant force. He can get 25 in his sleep… He wants to play, wants to be on the court. That is on me, on our whole staff, to get him to his best self.”
Embiid, now 32 years old, has appeared in fewer than 40 regular-season games in three straight seasons, and he has missed multiple playoff games over that span as well.
As a result, some have speculated the 76ers could move on from their longtime centerpiece this summer.
The issue is that Embiid carries a massive three-year, $187.8 million extension that kicks in during the 2026-27 season, making him one of the hardest contracts in basketball to move.
Multiple executives told insiders that extending Embiid was the “true fireable misstep” that ultimately cost Morey his job.
Gansey isn’t naïve. He knows the baggage. He also comes from Cleveland, where he helped build a culture-first operation that consistently developed and retained talent.
Co-owner Josh Harris previously noted the 76ers hold seven first-round picks and 12 second-round picks over the next seven years, giving Gansey the assets to reshape around a core, with or without Embiid.
The fact that he’s choosing with Embiid signals a belief that the health piece is solvable, at least for now.