Philadelphia is 2-3 in those games when both George and Embiid have sat. In those instances, the 76ers play at a faster pace and become more perimeter-oriented, with Tyrese Maxey<\/a> becoming the focal point. More significantly, their interior defense and rim protection drop sharply without Embiid.<\/p>\n Comparatively, the 76ers are 13-10 when either George or Embiid played. The Sixers are also 6-2 when George plays, and Embiid sits.<\/p>\n Philadelphia’s biggest weakness is shooting the ball. The 76ers’ biggest issue is their interior scoring — ranking in the bottom third in paint points at 48.2 a game — as they connect on a league-worst 59.5% of their shots at the rim and 52.2% of their two-point shots overall.\u00a0 The Sixers also need to move the ball better.<\/p>\n On the plus side, the 76ers are average to slightly better than average defensively. The 76ers defend the 3-point line extremely well and create turnovers. They also protect the rim well, though fouling and rebounding without Embiid are issues.<\/p>\n While the 76ers could use to add another big man off the bench, health is the biggest swing factor. The Sixers have yet to have their complete starting lineup healthy. However, the Sixers are 12-9 when any combination of Embiid, George, Kelly Oubre<\/a>, VJ Edgecombe<\/a>, and Tyrese Maxey<\/a> plays. Additionally, they are 8-4 when Embiid, Oubr,e and George are in the starting lineup.<\/p>\n Philadelphia has one open roster spot. The Sixers are $1 million below the first tax apron and $12 million from the second apron.<\/p>\n So, the 76ers do have the flexibility to make a trade or two. The Sixers will likely not wait until NBA Trade Deadline Day (February 6) to make a move.<\/p>\n Philadelphia is fast approaching the NBA’s “under-15 rule,” according to Luke Adams of Hooprumors<\/a>.\u00a0 The “under-15 rule” stipulates that a team carrying fewer than 15 players on its standard roster may not have its two-way players active for more than 90 combined games.<\/span><\/p>\n The Sixers’ two-way players — Dominick Barlow,<\/a> Jabari Walker<\/a>, Hunter Sallis,<\/a> and MarJon Beauchamp<\/a> —\u00a0have been active in 85 total games. Therefore, the Sixers only have five games left to play, and likely three after tonight when they face Houston. However, at least one of the two may be inactive as Oubre is available and Embiid is probable<\/a>. Meanwhile, George is questionable due to injury management.<\/p>\n Speaking of Barlow and Walker, the 76ers are expected to find a way to convert both players’ contracts to standard deals per Marc Stein of The Stein Line<\/a>. For the Sixers to promote both players, they will have to make a salary-cutting trade or waive someone. Kyle Lowry<\/a>, Eric Gordon<\/a>, and Johni Broome<\/a> are the most likely candidates to be waived.<\/p>\n Philadelphia likely doesn’t want to lose Broome unless they trade him, and Lowry is highly regarded by the organization for his leadership. That would leave Gordon as the oddman out. However, moving Lowry to a full-time coaching position makes the most sense, since he has seen just 45 minutes of playing time in six appearances.<\/p>\n \u00a9 Bill Streicher, Imagn Images\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Walker is the most likely player to be promoted immediately.\u00a0 Walker has been active in all 42 of the 76ers’ games, appearing in 40 contests. Thus, the 23-year-old can only appear in 10 more games as a two-way player.<\/p>\n While Walker hasn’t been overly productive, he has one double-double and has scored in double figures three times. The 2022 NBA second-round pick, who has appeared in 228 career games, averages 3.9 points and 3.3 rebounds with shooting splits of 41.7\/24.6\/72.7 this year in 12 minutes of action. He has a +0.4 rating, plus or minus.<\/p>\n Walker is athletic and versatile, and can defend all three frontcourt positions. Walker is a physical defender who rebounds well and plays with a high motor. He is willing to do the little things, is a good finisher around the rim, and can knock down open corner threes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If the Sixers have to choose between Barlow and Walker, Barlow will be the choice.\u00a0 The 22-year-old forward, who has 128 NBA games of experience, has been fabulous in his 32 games. He is in the midst of a career season with 8.2 points and 5.1 rebounds (2.2 offensive) in 24 minutes of action. He has scored in double-figures on 15 occassions, including one 20-point night, and produced one double-double.<\/p>\n Barlow is a mobile or switchable big man who is a good enough defender that doesn’t get hunted. Barlow provides rim-protection, even if he isn’t a pure shot-blocker, and is a rim-runner who pressures the paint. He can also defend in space and is the perfect complement for all three Sixers stars.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After being one of the most disappointing teams in the NBA a season ago, the Philadelphia 76ers have been a pleasant surprise in 2025-26. While the 76ers aren’t expected to make any major trades at the NBA trade deadline, they will likely make one or two moves. 76ers Have Options, Expected To Make A Roster […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":173912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[49398,49044,267,50,2478,49644],"class_list":["post-173693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-76ers","tag-dominick-barlow","tag-jabari-walker","tag-joel-embiid","tag-paul-george","tag-tyrese-maxey","tag-vj-edgecombe"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173693"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173911,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173693\/revisions\/173911"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}76ers To Promote Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker<\/h3>\n
<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_27970689_168401876_lowres-300x200.jpg\")
Jabari Walker<\/h3>\n
Dominick Barlow<\/h3>\n