Preseason Preview: Philadelphia 76ers
What’s good y’all and welcome back to another pre-season preview video. In today’s video, we’re going over the Philadelphia 76ers. In case this is your first preseason preview video of mine that you’re seeing, basically what I do is go over the off seasonason, give a little recap there, and then try to look into the future and see what we can expect in this upcoming season. I’m making videos on all 30 NBA teams, and the Sixers are video 29 out of 30. So, make sure you check out my channel for the ones that I already uploaded, and then make sure you hit that subscribe button so you don’t miss out on the rest of the content coming out going forward. But, let’s just jump right into it and start talking about the 76ers. Last year, they were probably the most disappointing team in the entire NBA. You can throw some other teams in the conversation for sure, but the the Sixers, they they were very very disappointing to say the least. Uh, they ended up as the 13th seed out in the Eastern Conference going 24 and 58. It’s not just the fact that they were down in the standings that made them so disappointing. Like, yeah, that was part of it, but also the expectations they had as a team going into last year. They signed Paul George being like the biggest or one of the biggest free agent signings from last off season. He came in, had a very down year, and then only played 41 games. Uh, it didn’t stop there, though, because of course Joel Embiid, they were dealing with his injury stuff throughout the entire season. He only played 19 games. Jared McCain was a little bit of a a bright spot for them as a rookie. He only played 23 games. Uh, you know, their biggest constant last year out of like their core guys, of course, was Tyrese Maxi. He himself though only played a little over 50 games. Uh, so it was an issue of health throughout their entire roster for the entire season. Now the question in Philly is basically can they bounce back? Can they get back to contention and still have Joel Embiid and Paul George, Tyrese Maxi, you know, as their big three and can they be a playoff team contending for championships? Hopefully, we can kind of figure that out a little bit more throughout the course of this video, but I don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves. I do want to start by talking about the offseason the Sixers had this year. And before we talk about the guys that are actually coming to Philly, I do want to highlight some of their key losses. And honestly, the Sixers didn’t really have too many like really important losses this off seasonason. I would say the most important loss was of course Gershon Yabusle. After having an incredible run with the French national team in the 2024 Olympics, Gershon Yabusle was able to make it back to the NBA, signing a contract with the Sixers, but he was almost too good for them because he kind of priced himself out out of their range for this off season. That is of course why Gershon left to sign a contract with the New York Knicks. and he was just some real good offense coming from the power forward position off their bench. Uh he’s a really interesting player because he’s super big, super solid, but also like pretty athletic too. Like he’ll dunk on you if you really test him at the rim. He really improved his three-point shooting. So, you know, anywhere above the arc, he will knock it down. I do think the Sixers could miss a little bit of his scoring off their bench this year, but considering their cap space situation and they really couldn’t bring him back. And then also, it seems like Philly is trying to get a little bit younger. They’re not doing a full youth movement, but it definitely seems like they want a little more youth on this roster. Yabusle is about to turn 30 years old, so I don’t think it’s the worst loss. And then their only other really notable loss this off season comes from Ricky Council. He actually got waved by the 76ers. He went to get picked up by the the Brooklyn Nets, but then he failed his physical. Uh, so he is actually currently still sitting in free agency at the time of recording this video. And I thought Ricky Council had a pretty okay season last year. He was again one of their only constants throughout the year playing 70 plus games for them. Uh, but at that wing position, I feel like the emergence of Justin Edwards last year kind of made um, rookie council just expendable. Even though Council is only 23 years old, like I said, Justin Edwards does a lot of the same things he does at the same position while only being 21 years old. Uh so I do think that just overall they’re kind of just swapping them out. And again, this loss isn’t really that big of a deal. Now for the more interesting things, the guys that are actually coming to Philly, uh the number one most talented player that the Sixers are adding this off seasonason, of course, is VJ Edgecomb, the third overall pick that they drafted this year in the NBA draft. VJ Edgecom is one of the most gifted athletes in this year’s draft. And I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that. If you just go down the list of every type of athleticism or every part of athleticism, he checks the box. Uh he has a super strong 65 frame at the wing position. He can jump out the gym. Uh he’s fast and just getting downhill. He’s got a quick first step. He can move laterally. Again, he could do basically everything athletically. And I’ve been able to watch VJ Edgecomb a little up close and personal so far in the preseason against my New York Knicks in Abu Dhabi. Uh and he has just been relentless attacking the rim. He doesn’t care who’s under there. He’s tried to posterize Mitchell Robinson. He did get a poster off on I want to say it was maybe Gershana Busousle. I could be wrong on that though. But he comes down super hard, jumps super high, and tries to flush on you with force. I really like the aggressiveness that he’s coming with offensively with that aspect of his athleticism. And then defensively, he uses his athleticism really well. Also, he’s a really good defensive playmaker while also being a sound just, you know, lock down defender. uh he uses his later lateral quickness to stay in front of guys, but also has made some really eyepopping plays. Uh the one that comes to mind against the Knicks again in preseason was he it was like a semi transition. He’s trailing the play running fast. Uh one of the Knicks point guards kind of slows up to go up with like a floater and he sprints back, sends it so far back to like midcourt basically. Uh and I just I can imagine we’re going to see a lot of those type of plays. He’s also been like pretty okay as a passer. I don’t think he’s going to be a guy that you could just have out there running your offense. But as like a secondary playmaker on the wing, I do think that he’s going to do pretty well. Where I do think he can improve is his shot creation just as himself. Whether that’s, you know, his off the dribble three or getting to his mid-range a little bit better. I do think that like getting to the rim by himself, he’s able to do that. but creating a jump shot or a different type of scoring opportunity. I think that’s where he can look to improve his game. The Sixers also went out and signed Trenton Watford to a 2-year $5.3 million contract. That second year on that contract is a team option though, however, so he’ll be making a little bit over $2.5 million for the next two years. I think Trent Watford’s a pretty solid power forward for them. I think he can give them a decent amount of value, especially for the low contract that he signed. Uh he has good length and good size at that power forward position. A really good like inside out type of guy where he’s going to give a lot of his impact close to the paint. Whether that’s rebounding, posting up a little bit more, uh you know, rolling and screening, he could do well. Uh he does shoot some threes and is kind of like hit or miss. I don’t really look for him to be like a floor spacer or anything. Uh but again, just as a guy that can bring some length and some size at the power forward position, I think he’s pretty solid. And although it’s not an addition technically, the biggest uh most dramafilled move I would say the Sixers made this off seasonason of course had to deal with Quinton Grimes and his restricted free agency. Quinton Grimes is coming off a career year last year since coming to the Sixers. Uh since they were dealing with so much injury, there was a lot of opportunity for Quinton Grimes to just go out there and rock out. And he rocked out. He had a few 40point games. He was shooting the ball incredibly well, creating for himself. Uh he had just an incredible second half of the season. That led him to go on to say, “Yo, I want a $30 million a year contract.” Obviously, that’s very shocking for a lot of people to hear. I don’t know if there’s anyone that really thinks that Quinton Grimes should get paid 25 plus million a year. The Sixers definitely didn’t think so either. So, that kind of led to a stalemate for almost the entire off season. And what ended up happening is Quinton Grimes signed the qualifying offer, uh, which is basically a one-year slightly under $9 million contract for this year. Uh, the caveat to this though is there is a no trade clause on this contract. So, it does suck. you know, if the Sixers want to move him at the trade deadline or something, they won’t be able to unless he approves the trade, which definitely makes things a little bit weirder. Also, when you look at it just from Quinton Grimes perspective, if he thinks he’s worth $30 million, whether he is or not, he thinks he’s worth that. He ended up having to sign a one-year less than $10 million contract. Uh, if I was him, I would feel a little disrespected by the Sixers for not being able to work out like any type of long-term contract. If you guys aren’t following, Cam Thomas and the Brooklyn Nets went through almost this exact situation where he wanted a lot of money. The Brooklyn Nets didn’t want to give it to him. He ended up signing that qualifying offer and it’s almost guaranteed he will not be back in Brooklyn after this season. I’m just worried that Quinton Grimes is going to want to do this same thing where he feels spided, is not going to want to resign with the Sixers. He has the no trade clause. So, I would be a little worried that the Sixers could lose him for absolutely nothing. And I am looking a little bit out in the future for that aspect of it. When you just look at this year alone, they were able to bring back Quinton Grimes. He will be on the roster and playing for them this season. So, that in itself is good. Just the fact that there’s a no trade clause and the relationship between player and team could be a little iffy. Uh it makes me just a little cautious. And then real quick, just to go over the other free agents that they resigned, Justin Edwards got his contract reworked into a three-year, $7 million contract with the last year on that deal being a team option. Uh, and then also Kyle Lowry signed a one-year veteran minimum contract. Now that we recap the offseason for the 76ers, let’s take a look at a potential rotation we could be seeing in this year. In their starting lineup, we have Tyrese Maxi, VJ Edgecomb, Kelly Olen, Paul George, and Joel Embiid. And then off their bench, we have Jared McCain, Quinton Grimes, Justin Edwards, Trenton Watford, and Adam Dem Bona. So, I’m going to start off by addressing the elephant in the room. Of course, I did include Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Jared McCain in that potential rotation. All three of these guys though are already injured going into the season, and there’s no real like exact timetable on when some of these guys will return. I know Jared McCain is expected to miss like 6 weeks, I believe it is. So, he should be back by mid to late December. Um, but you know, Paul George, he had to get a surgery on his knee this off season. I don’t know when he’s going to be back. I know he hasn’t been doing onc court like five on fives yet. So, that’s a little concerning. Joel Embiid himself, he’s dealing with whatever he’s got going on with his knee and he still is not on five on five from everything that I’ve seen. There is no timetable on when he thinks he’ll be back, when the Sixers think he’s going to be back. So I I I don’t know what’s going on with these guys. And when you have two of your three players have such big question marks on when will they be back on the court, when they are back, what percentage of them will be there. Is it, you know, 100%, 80%, 50%, you know, that’s just not a good spot to be in as a franchise and as a team. Like many of you guys, I’m sure I hope that Joan Embiid is able to be fully healthy this season and put on a MVP or near MVP level performance like he once was. I hope that Paul George is able to play 65 plus games this year, have a bounceback year. I hope all of these things happen, but I’m just not sure how confident I can be thinking like, yeah, they probably will happen. And I kind of hinted at it before, but I do think that the Sixers are doing a good job at getting slightly younger. not necessarily like fully retooling and like leaning into this rebuild because they don’t have faith in Joel Embiid, but I do think that it’s like just a little bit of insurance getting such young prospects on this team to think, all right, if we have to, god forbid, pivot off of Joel Embiid, we don’t have to start from scratch. Uh, you know, if you noticed, their entire bench that I just showed are all 25 or under. Uh, and then also, of course, they have guys like Tyrese Maxi or VJ Edgecomb who are still super young and part of their core. Having guys like Jared McCain and Quinton Grimes, even though we don’t know how long he will be on this team, Adam Dembona, Justin Edwards, like all of these super young guys kind of emerging on this roster in these past few seasons, I think is super important in the idea that they might have to pivot. Like DJ Edgecomb, he will probably start. I do think that him and Tyrese Maxi are their back court of the future. I really like how their skill sets kind of play off of each other. You have Tyrese Maxi who of course is one of the better offensive guards in the NBA in general. Real perimeter centric, can shoot the three ball, playmake a little bit, you know, super quick and fast with his handle. Then to counteract that, you have BJ Edgecomb who has a little bit more size than Tyrese Maxi. Super athletic, a little more defensive oriented as well. he’ll more get downhill and be like, you know, that physical type of guy, while Tyrese Maxi will be that change of pace, you know, go fast type of guy. I I really like them two in the pairing as a backcourt. Of course, you have Jared McCain in there where you can throw him around. I don’t know where he fits there, but he is super talented from what he’s shown us. Adona will probably be their starting center considering Joel Embiid will miss time to start. I really like what he brings just as a defensive oriented like rim protector. I don’t think they have to fully commit to a rebuild or anything like that. So, I like that they’re not jumping the gun in that aspect, but I do like that they’re just making a conscious effort to get this roster pretty young around Joel Embiid and Paul George. With that being said though, since they have to deal with so many injuries, I do think it’s important to go over some notable reserves. Uh, first off, like I said, with Joel Embiid out of the picture for at least the beginning of the season. I do think that Adam Dembono will be their starter and then that in turn makes Andre Drummond be their backup. He’s been in Philly for a few seasons now. Uh, you know, I think he’s a solid backup center just as a rebounder and an interior presence with that big body. Of course, it’s a pretty steep fall off from a Joel Embiid level player, but he’s at least someone and a veteran that you can plug in while Joel is missing some time. And they also have some veteran guards who I think definitely will be getting some PT early on with the Jared McCain and Paul George injuries. Uh guys like Eric Gordon or Kyle Lowry I think definitely will be getting some burn. I know last year it wasn’t the best year for them. At the same time though, I think because the Sixers were dealing with so many injuries and not really winning much games, they kind of just ease the veterans out of that. I think both of these guys played like under 40 games last year. if they are more competitive, I definitely see both of these guys being a little bit more intricate parts of this team and getting more burn. But just as guys to be ball handlers, shooters, creators, uh again, just kind of veteran bodies that need to fill in for injuries. Uh they definitely have some solid options. But now it’s time to talk about the ceiling floor and my expectations for the Philadelphia 76ers. Starting off with their ceiling, I could see them being as high as the seventh seed. and in the playin tournament, it’s really hard to give the Sixers the benefit of the doubt when we’re already going into the season with them dealing with such prominent injuries to important players. Uh so I can’t really say like, well, if they’re healthy, their ceiling is the three seed because we know what Joel Embiid can be because it’s just not seeming like the ceiling is a healthy Joel Embiid, if that makes sense. I just I do expect Joel Embiid to miss a pretty decent chunk of the season. I do expect Paul George to miss part of the beginning of the season as well. Uh so it’s hard for me to really put them above any of these other like better Eastern Conference teams. With that being said though, I do think that Tyrese Maxi is talented enough to win them some games. I really do like the youth guys that they have here with VJ, with Jared McCain, with Quinton Grimes. Uh so I do think that they have enough talent there. And then of course when Joel Embiid is on the court, he is pretty productive. I I I don’t really have to say that much. Uh so I do think that they can make the postseason. I do think that they would be able to win at least one of their two playing tournament games, but I don’t know if they’d be able to pull off an upset verse a top two seed in the Eastern Conference. So at their ceiling, I have them as first round exits. At their floor, I have them as low as the 13th seed. And in the lottery, of course, this is exactly what happened last year. They were the 13th seed and in the lottery and that it ended up working out for them considering they jumped up to the third overall pick to draft BJ Edgecomb. Uh but you know last year we saw they struggled with injury and when you know their guys were on the court they weren’t playing at the peak of their powers. So they still ended up losing a bunch of games that still very much is on the table unfortunately in Philly this year. So I could just see them doing it again basically. But when you look at my expectations for them, I do think it’s going to be somewhat of a bounceback season for Philly. I expect them to be a playing tournament team being around that eighth or ninth seed. I’ll probably slide them in at that ninth seed, though. Again, I do like some of the talent they have on this roster. And I do think that in certain situations, especially depending on how healthy they are, they could be a pretty solid team. It’s just hard for me to confidently say that they will be at least a little bit healthy. like I can’t really take myself to fully commit to that idea. So, I’m going to put them at this ninth seed. Uh, and I do think that it could be pretty tough for them to win two playing tournament games. So, I’m expecting them to be playing losers. What do you guys think though? Let me know in the comments below where you think the 76ers are going to end in this year’s standings and how far can they make it in the postseason. I’m really interested to see what you guys think. So, let me know in the comments below. Hope you guys enjoyed this video. If you did, make sure to leave it a like, subscribe so you don’t miss the next one. In the description is links to all my social medias. So, make sure you follow me on all those to keep up to date with me.
During my Preseason Preview series I will be covering all 30 NBA teams, recapping their offseason, assessing their roster, and predicting what to expect from them in this coming season. In this video, I cover the Philadelphia 76ers.
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