Sixers practice notebook: Health updates, Tyrese Maxey's vocal leadership, more from Monday

After completing their preseason preparation last Friday and hosting an intersquad duel for fans on Sunday, the Sixers returned to training on Monday.

With the season opener just days away, the team has turned its focus to the Milwaukee Bucks. Since they are called the Philadelphia 76ers, most of the media time after practice was spent discussing the health of the various ailing players on the roster. Here are some takeaways from training ahead of the start of the season.

Injuries and the new normal

Nick Nurse's first task was to give an update on who was practicing and who wasn't, and the answer was basically everyone except Paul George. Joel Embiid and Jared McCain participated in part of today's practice, while Tyrese Maxey participated in full.

Nurse said that Embiid again did not participate in the 5-on-5 fight and suggested that McCain did not either.

The Embiid part sparked some follow-up since the big guy hasn't had a chance yet this preseason, and Nurse explained that's apparently how they'll manage Embiid, at least for now.

“He will be very limited in this area as the new normal,” Nurse said. “He moves pretty well, he gets a lot of work done. He's out there…60, 70 percent of the team training until we get to the real physical stuff.”

He concluded by saying that the stuff will come soon, but they don't want to overdo it “this early in the year.”

So it's not just that Embiid won't have any preparation time to get used to the new squad, he won't have played a 5-out-of-5 game with them in practice. So staying healthy seems to be a top priority for him and the team this year.

Stay confident and ready for anything…

…although no one could accuse Kelly Oubre Jr. of lacking both. Oubre was asked about not having a chance to play or practice as a full team yet, but he didn't seem too worried.

“I wouldn't say next-man-up mentality, but when we see Wednesday step on the court, we have to go out there and do what we can,” Oubre said.

He also emphasized that the team still spent a lot of time together.

“Everyone is here and present, everyone is very vocal and everyone is part of the team,” he said, “so I don't feel like we're missing any parts, but we just have to go out there and be ready.” Whatever and do our best, play hard.”

Tyrese Maxey is learning to play without Embiid

If the season opener is any indication, the Sixers will have a lot of games this year with players in and out of the lineup, and likely the players who are in and out will be some of the stars.

That will put a lot of the regular season workload on Tyrese Maxey, who has new waivers after he made the All-Star last season.

Maxey is confident he will be able to do this. He's building on his experience from last year when he tried to lead the team when Embiid was out for most of the second half of the season.

“It really helped me develop my game and my mind,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of different coverage. Teams try to do a lot of different things to try to prevent my success and demise. So I had to find ways around that and get my teammates involved.”

Not only is he expected to improve his performance. “Vocal leader” is a role Maxey has held his entire life. Because he's been a Sixer for so long, he feels like he's been able to establish himself as one in this franchise.

“Guys see the work I’ve done and guys see how much I care about winning. They respect it,” Maxey said. “I have a voice that I use often. I try to use as much as possible. Because I want to win. I want to take boys with me.”