LAS VEGAS — The Philadelphia 76ers are coming off a 24-58 season in a year they were expected to contend for a championship. Heading into the season led by Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey, the Sixers seemed primed for a championship run.

Instead, injuries decimated the roster. The star trio played a grand total of 18 games together–finishing only 15 of those games and Philadelphia went 7-8 in those contests. It was a year in which everything that could possibly go wrong did.

As the Sixers head into 2025-26, they are hoping to have their star trio healthy which would vault them towards the top of the East–in theory. On paper, the Sixers have just as much talent as anybody in the East, but Maxey wants to pump the brakes on all of that talk.

“I mean, the biggest way I look at is we got to focus on the Sixers right now,” said Maxey. “I mean, that’s what we got to focus on, honestly, man. From day one. Starting summer league, draft, all that. We got to focus on just the 76ers. Once we figured out that portion, then we can worry about everybody else.”

Maxey isn’t wrong. While, obviously, talented, the Sixers have a lot of questions to answer and things to figure out as they move forward. Coach Nick Nurse has to find the best lineups and rotations in order to help this team succeed. Obviously, the Sixers have to help their star trio also nail down chemistry. There’s a lot to figure out.

“Figure out rotations, figure out guys, making sure we all healthy, make sure we’re all out there to play,” Maxey added. “That’s the biggest thing, I think, for us right now, and then, once we do that, then we can worry about the East and the rest of the league.”

It’s obvious that Maxey has the right idea. While a lot of talking heads will talk about the Sixers being legitimate contenders right now, Maxey wants to make sure his team is focused on getting back on track and just building good habits.

This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Tyrese Maxey makes statement about the contender status for Sixers