Happy Monday! As always, let's kick off the week with some notes and observations about the Sixers in another edition of 5 Sixers thoughts, ranging from head coach Nick Nurse's eventual starting five and the team's depth to its national television schedule:
Should Jared McCain start no matter what?
In an earlier edition of 5 Sixers thoughts from this month, I attempted to categorize every player on the Sixers' current roster based on their roles in 2025-26. Of course, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George will all be locked into starting roles when healthy. In their next tier, "most critical supporting players," I had Quentin Grimes (assuming there is an eventual new contract), Kelly Oubre Jr. and Jared McCain.
Conventional thinking, understandably so, has been that Grimes would more or less be locked into the starting five if he re-signs, playing alongside Maxey in the backcourt. The fifth starter job could belong to anyone, including Oubre or even a natural power forward like Trendon Watford if Nurse wants to have as much size as he can in his starting lineup.
Plenty of excitement exists around McCain after a remarkable rookie season cut short by a torn meniscus, but Grimes' late-season surge last year seems to have dissuaded people from making the case that McCain should find his way into the starting five. The concerns about his defensive fit with Maxey are real; those two players would comprise an extremely small backcourt without much pedigree on defense.
If the lone goal in building a starting lineup is short-term winning, the Sixers should start Oubre in between Grimes and George, with the nine-time All-Star nominally starting at power forward. Maxey, Grimes, Oubre, George and Embiid would be the five, with McCain as the backup point guard whose additional stints at shooting guard would have him primed for a similar minute total as Oubre.
But do the Sixers have a serious enough chance to win at the highest level this season for that to be their only objective? The most important aspect of the Sixers' roster construction over the next 5-10 years will be finding the right combination of guards to build around.
In Maxey, McCain and VJ Edgecombe, the Sixers have three guards any organization would love to have at the forefront of its team for many years to come. (Grimes does not have as much promise in the eye of most but has unquestionably turned himself into an important young player.)
Maxey, McCain and Edgecombe are all on the smaller side for their positions in the backcourt. But the idea of a backcourt with as much offensive firepower as Maxey and McCain can bring at the same time is tantalizing. Perhaps it is worth forcing the issue to get a sense now for what it looks like in a larger sample.
MORE: How good can Sixers get without Embiid?
An old friend retires
Marco Belinelli, the veteran of 13 NBA seasons – including a memorable 28-game stint with the Sixers in the stretch run of the 2017-18 campaign – announced his retirement from professional basketball last week on his Instagram account.
Belinelli gave the Sixers a huge jolt off the bench after being bought out by the Atlanta Hawks that season, knocking down ridiculous movement threes time and time again.
The most memorable performance Belinelli submitted as a Sixer had to be the first playoff game in this era of Sixers basketball, when they pummeled a veteran Miami Heat team down the stretch for a decisive Game 1 victory.
Belinelli checked into the game almost immediately when starting shooting guard JJ Redick went to the locker room with an injury. I will never forget just how loud it got in the arena when Amir Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound and found Belinelli for an open triple:
While that is the defining Belinelli memory for me, for most it would be a circus shot he hit later in this game. And it was just remarkable how often he knocked down triples on the move:
Paul George as the last man standing
John Wall, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, also officially announced his retirement last week. Believe it or not, George is now the last man standing from his draft class. Out of all 60 players drafted that year, George is the only one still active in the NBA. George, the No. 10 overall pick by the Indiana Pacers, has had the best career of anybody drafted in 2010 by quite a bit according to just about any cumulative metric.
The top 10 picks in that draft, plus the only few particularly notable players drafted in the final 50 picks:
Pick Player Win Shares
1 John Wall 44.5
2 Evan Turner 20.2
3 Derrick Favors 60.2
4 Wesley Johnson 10.7
5 DeMarcus Cousins 46.8
6 Ekpe Udoh 10.4
7 Greg Monroe 50.4
8 Al-Farouq Aminu 27.6
9 Gordon Hayward 63.5
10 Paul George 89.5
18 Eric Bledsoe 46.1
19 Avery Bradley 17.2
33 Hassan Whiteside 52.0
That No. 2 overall pick was just a bit disappointing for the Sixers.
MORE: Can Sixers pivot if Grimes accepts his qualifying offer?
Mike Muscala has a new line of work
Back to obscure old friends... Muscala, whose infamous pair of clutch threes as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder enabled the Sixers to draft Maxey with the No. 21 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, brought his playing career to an end last year. But earlier this month, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported that Muscala was joining the Phoenix Suns... as an assistant coach. Muscala will join the staff of rookie head coach Jordan Ott.
Breaking down the Sixers' national television schedule
You should still expect to see Wall's face and hear his name, as he is now joining Amazon Prime's NBA coverage team in its inaugural season as one of the league's broadcast partners. Wall has not done an enormous amount of television work but has seemed genuinely insightful in those appearances.
On the subject of the league's new TV rights deal, there will be a higher number of games on national television than ever in 2025-26. And yet the Sixers have understandably watched their number of games on the league's partnered networks go down:
Season National TV games
2023-24 17
2024-25 21
2025-26 14
Of the Sixers' 14 games on national television, four will be on Prime, while five will appear on NBC (and another two on Peacock). The rest of the bunch will be ESPN or ABC.
MORE: Everything else to know about Sixers' 2025-26 schedule
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