The 2024-25 season was a miserable one for the Philadelphia 76ers as they fell well short of championship expectations with injuries decimating the roster. The Sixers were unable to recover and slumped to a 24-58 record sending themselves to the lottery for the first time since 2017.
Heading into the new season, the Sixers are tough to predict. Obviously, this roster is still talented led by the star trio of Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey. Younger, versatile pieces have bolstered the supporting cast and the Sixers will look to those younger guys to get them through the grind of an 82-game season. However, Embiid and George are big injury questions heading into the new season.
John Hollinger of The Athletic predicts the Sixers finish No. 10 in the Eastern Conference which would lead them to making the play-in tournament, but missing the playoffs for the second season in a row if they can’t get out of the play-in:
Put down any number you want for the Sixers. I won’t fight you. There is probably wider variance on Philadelphia’s potential outcomes than for any team in the league. You can imagine a scenario where Joel Embiid can’t stay healthy, Paul George never gets back to full strength and things go off the rails so quickly that the Sixers try to tank their way out of donating a lottery pick to the Thunder for a second straight season, although they have to luck into the top four to do it this time.
On the other hand, you can just as easily convince yourself of a scenario where a healthy(-ish) Embiid plays 60-65 games, George comes back and looks like that Paul George, Tyrese Maxey takes his game up another level and guys such as Jared McCain and Quentin Grimes step up to give the Sixers the supporting cast it lacked a year ago. In a soft East, that might be enough to get you a high seed, and then who knows what happens in the playoffs?
To Hollinger’s point, the Sixers will go as far as Embiid takes them. While Maxey is more than equipped to lead this team with the stars out, he will need the help of the big fella and George to get the Sixers back into the playoffs and on the path of title contention.