Joel Embiid hopes Sixers don’t duck tax

At the 2024 trade deadline, the Sixers dealt Danuel House and Jaden Springer to move below the luxury tax, and they used a similar approach in 2025 by trading Caleb Martin and KJ Martin to avoid paying it again.

This year Philadelphia is roughly $7 million above the tax line, sparking speculation that more cost-cutting moves could come.

However, star center Joel Embiid said Thursday he hopes the front office keeps the current roster together, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“We’ve been ducking the tax the last couple of years,” Embiid said. “So hopefully we keep the same team. I love all of the guys that are in here. I think we got a shot.

“I don’t know what (the front office is) going to do. But I hope that we get a chance to go out there and compete because we got a good group of guys in this locker room, and the vibes are great. … Hopefully we think about improving because we have a chance.”

Expectations were modest after last season’s 24-win, injury-filled campaign, but the Sixers have already exceeded that mark through 47 games.

With Embiid and Paul George healthier, Tyrese Maxey taking another leap, and rookie VJ Edgecombe contributing right away, Philadelphia sits 26–21 and holds the No. 6 seed in the East.

Financially, the team could get under the tax by trading expiring contracts like Quentin Grimes or Kelly Oubre Jr., though both are key rotation players and sources say a pure salary-dump deal isn’t being pursued.

Moving Andre Drummond alone wouldn’t be enough, and pairing him with a minimum-salary player would only be temporary because the roster would then fall below the league’s 14-player requirement.

Getting under the tax would save ownership about $7.5 million and potentially bring a large payout from the league’s tax pool.

Still, since the Sixers have already reset their repeater clock, the urgency to shed salary isn’t as strong as in prior seasons.