Full speed ahead? Young and fast guards give Sixers a chance to leave last season in the dust.

For a coach who’s had success at every level, Nick Nurse has had his share of celebratory offseasons.

But this offseason was a nightmare for the 76ers coach.

“You live your summer based on how your last season went,” Nurse said. “It’s reality. Or for coaches, I guess. … My main goal is that when two people get up from their seats and are walking out the door, they’re saying, ‘Man, those guys played their [butts] off tonight.’ We didn’t do that, either, and that’s what I’m striving for, and I think that’s what this fan base deserves, and that’s what we’re going to keep striving for.”

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid is embracing his new reality and a potentially new role for the Sixers

It’s hard to know whether these Sixers will continue to be the product they fielded a year ago, when Joel Embiid and Paul George spent more time in street clothes than jerseys and Tyrese Maxey struggled to score enough points to produce wins without a consistent costar.

Or, by getting younger, bigger, and more athletic, have the Sixers made a significant modification, with an emphasis on playing faster and being more balanced?

The Sixers open the season Wednesday night with a mandate for change. A second straight losing campaign for a team with three max-contract players — Embiid, George, and Maxey — will force that.

Yet the desired changes might be challenging to implement when the core players the Sixers depend on essentially are the same.

And that could become even more problematic, because with every sudden move or on-court collision, Embiid’s health odometer could max out.

Embiid looked good in his new role as a facilitator in Friday’s exhibition finale against a makeshift Minnesota Timberwolves squad. We’ll get a better idea of his level of play Wednesday against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden.

But the Sixers are taking a day-to-day approach to the availability of the 2023 MVP, who underwent two left knee surgeries in a span of 14 months and played in just 58 games over the last two seasons.

» READ MORE: Can Nick Nurse work his magic to overcome the Sixers’ injuries and lack of on-court chemistry?

And what about George, who signed a four-year, $211.5 million contract two summers ago? He played in only 41 games last season because of various injuries. Knee surgery three months ago will sideline him at the start of the season for a second straight year. Additionally, Trendon Watford (left hamstring tightness) will miss Wednesday’s game.

George had been a full participant in this week’s practices. In fact, Jared McCain, who is recovering from right thumb surgery, was the only Sixer who did not practice on Monday and Tuesday.

The Sixers probably don’t know when they last had that much practice participation.

“We are all just locked in,” Kelly Oubre Jr. said. “And we all have that chip on our shoulder and those voices in the back of our head about the disappointment from last year.

“So it’s just going out there and winning one and playing the right way and creating that identity each and every night.”

» READ MORE: Seven burning questions for the Sixers season

The Sixers trust that their new identity will pay dividends. It’s about playing fast, playing hard, and playing differently while having fun.

“Like I said, with what we have and the versatility we can put out there on the court, it’ll be nice when we play in different ways,” Maxey said.

Defensively, the Sixers want to cause havoc when they pick up the ball. Their up-tempo offense will help them take advantage of a roster loaded with athletic perimeter players.

» READ MORE: VJ Edgecombe outpacing Sixers expectations — and bringing his lofty goals into view

“But sometimes we’re going to have to slow the game down,” Maxey said. “We do have Joel; we do have Paul. Those guys are really good in the half court. And we also have VJ [Edgecombe], Jared, Quentin [Grimes], who are very good in the full court. So we’ll see.”

After facing the Celtics, the Sixers will head home to face the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday and the Orlando Magic on Monday. In a positive for them, they’ll play 14 of their first 23 games at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

» READ MORE: Sixers’ sights set on season opener against Celtics. And they could have reinforcements.

They’re also slated for 16 sets of back-to-back games, beginning with Monday’s game against the Magic, then at the Washington Wizards on Tuesday.

A good test of their ability to compete in the Eastern Conference comes in their Nov. 5 road game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are the conference title favorites.

» READ MORE: Inquirer staff's Sixers predictions

And we’ll get a pretty good idea of this team’s competitiveness during a crucial 12-game stretch starting in December. Nine of those games are against teams that reached last season’s playoffs, highlighted by a Dec. 28 road game against the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

But for now, the Sixers are beaming with confidence.

“Competitiveness. Extremely competitive. Extremely versatile,” Maxey said of what stands out about the team. “We can do a lot of different things. We’ve got a lot of guards that can do a lot of different things, some bigs that can play different positions. A lot of talent, and I think this team’s buying in early.

“As long as we can stay in that space, buying into what we’re trying to do … good team. Good opportunity.”