Philadelphia 76ers small forward preview: Jaylen Brown, bench unit - Sixers Wire

The 2026-27 season is quickly approaching for the Philadelphia 76ers as they have their eyes on ending a long title drought after the big additions made in the offseason. The Sixers will field one of the more talented rosters in the league and will look to get to the mountaintop in 2027.

It's now time to look ahead to the new season and time to break down each position for the Sixers in an effort to preview what the season might look like. Sixers Wire will look at the small forwards now and take a look at what the Sixers bring to the table at the position:

The Sixers pulled off the stunner of the summer when they found a way to acquire the 5-time All-Star from the rival Boston Celtics. Brown is an accomplished player who has a finals MVP on his resume and is fresh off a phenomenal season in which he averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists while leading the Cs to the No. 2 seed in the East in what was supposed to be a "gap year". He and the Celtics saw a 3-1 lead slip away in the Round 1 loss to the Sixers, but Brown did his part as he shot 40.5% from deep on 6.0 attempts and averaged 25.7 points in the seven games.

As Brown transitions to Philadelphia, there will be some predictable adjustments as he goes from being the No. 1 option in Boston to the No. 2, No. 3, and sometimes No. 4 option on some nights with the Sixers. There will be nights when Tyrese Maxey handles the scoring load or maybe LeBron James will take the reins. There's also Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe to account for, but Brown is such a high IQ player that he will eventually figure this out and make a big impact on this group.

Behind Brown, the Sixers will look to third-year man Justin Edwards. The Philadelphia native averaged 6.0 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 2025-26 while shooting 37.2% from deep. He had his ups and downs throughout his second season, but Edwards is somebody who can fill a legitimate role on this group for the future. He can be a 3-and-D guy when given the chance to earn regular minutes. The Sixers can use Dean Wade here as well as James sliding up to the 3 at times.