CAMDEN, N.J. — As the Philadelphia 76ers forge ahead in their preparation for the 2025-26 season, all eyes are on recovering stars Joel Embiid and Paul George. Both players were hobbled in the 2024-25 season due to a variety of injuries and the Sixers hope for better injury luck in the coming season.
Ahead of the opener on Oct. 22 against the Boston Celtics, the Sixers are continuing to work Embiid in as slowly as possible. The big fella only played 19 games in 2024-25 due to the knee injury and underwent surgery in April. He has participated in live stuff as well as the team’s Blue X White scrimmage on Oct. 12.
Jared McCain, who is working his way back from his own injury, has been on the sidelines during practice which gives him the chance to see everything up close. He gave his thoughts on how Embiid has looked from his perspective.
“He looks good,” said McCain. “I don’t know his timeline or anything like that, but he looks great. Even just seeing him play and seeing him go up and down, like, he looks good. I’m excited to see him get out there and play with him again.”
McCain only played six games with Embiid in the 2024-25 season as both dealt with injuries, but in that short sample size, the second-year guard out of Duke was able to learn a lot about playing next to him. Essentially, keep moving without the ball and knock down open looks when the big fella hits you.
“I mean, it’s pretty easy playing with Joel,” McCain laughed. “He’s passing the ball, and then get off your man, and he sets it an amazing screen, and then obviously all the attention is going to go to him. So I’m either open for a 3, or I can drive to the basket, and when you pass to him in the post there—they double him 100% of the time. So that’s my favorite shot is a kick out 3 so, and he makes it really easy to play. I can’t wait to get back out there.”
Time will tell how the Embiid-McCain duo will look in the coming season, but McCain has the shooting and ball-handling to make it work playing next to a dominant big man. The Sixers should look into growing that duo at some point in the coming season.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Jared McCain gives thoughts on how Sixers star Joel Embiid has looked
