The 2024-2025 NBA season is here! We analyze the biggest questions, best- and worst-case scenarios, and fantasy prospects for all 30 teams. Enjoy!
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
End 2023-24
Off-season moves
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Additions: Paul George, Caleb Martin, Guerschon Yabusele, Eric Gordon, Reggie Jackson, Andre Drummond, Jared McCain, Adem Bona
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Deductions: Tobias Harris, Buddy Hield, Nicolas Batum, De’Anthony Melton, Robert Covington, Paul Reed, Cameron Payne, Mo Bamba
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Complete roster
The big question: Can Joel Embiid dominate for a full season?
For once, everything is in place around Joel Embiid.
The 76ers wiped their books clean in one fell swoop on whatever roster they wanted around Embiid and Tyrese Maxey — just this summer, before Maxey signed his $204 million contract. And they homered and added the best available free agent, Paul George, who fit perfectly among their existing stars.
Not only that, but they crammed Caleb Martin, Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon, Reggie Jackson and the surprise of the Paris Olympics, Frenchman Guerschon Yabusele, into their remaining salary cap space. They also retained Kyle Lowry and Kelly Oubre Jr. and called up Jared McCain, who appears ready for the NBA.
They gave Embiid everything he wanted when, sitting next to George during the NBA Finals, he told a national TV audience, “Hopefully this offseason we’ll find a way to get better and add some pieces.”
The 2023 NBA MVP now has a pair of All-Stars on his side, just like in 2019, when his Sixers fell one shot behind in his first appearance in a conference finals, at the top of the kind of roster you build when you expect to compete for a championship – full of well-known veterans and a bit of advantage.
Embiid is out of excuses, even though he’s had built-in excuses for years. His history ending each season:
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2015: Broken right foot
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2016: Broken right foot
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2017: Torn left meniscus
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2018: Fractured eye socket and concussion
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2019: Tendonitis of the left knee and viral gastroenteritis
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2020: Global pandemic
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2021: Torn right meniscus
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2022: Broken orbital bone and torn thumb ligament
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2023: Sprained right knee
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2024: Torn left meniscus
Some of these, including both facial fractures, are freak accidents. What is clear: Joel Embiid’s legs as a basketball player are on borrowed time. We can quibble over whether his injuries are the result of poor conditioning or just the natural order of being an athletic 7-footer carrying nearly 300 pounds. Either way, Embiid is having trouble sustaining the biggest games of his career, let alone series. Let alone four rounds.
So now it’s time. Embiid is 30 years old. Maybe he’s on the other side of getting better.
When he was healthy, he was a monster. From 2020-23, he averaged 30.9 points (on 42/36/84 shooting splits), 10.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.5 blocks and one steal per game, ranking in the top two each season finished in the MVP voting. And he got off to a better start last season, scoring more than a point per minute. He then tore the meniscus in one of his knees for the third time in his career. It turns out that chasing trophies, which requires 65 games played and the minutes of a superstar, wasn’t the best thing for an injury-prone behemoth.
So it was refreshing to hear this from Embiid, who was 25-30 pounds lighter at media day: “We have to do whatever it takes to make sure I’m healthy in the postseason. This year, there is no agenda. There is no All-Star. There’s no All-NBA. There’s none of that.
So here we are. Embiid has a championship-caliber team around him and a franchise committed to spending his season in the service of his health. They just gave him a three-year, $193 million extension that runs through his 34th birthday. If he can’t erase his identity this season as the only MVP never to reach the conference finals, at what point do we expect any outcome other than disappointment?
At best
Everyone – especially Embiid and 34-year-old George – remains healthy. That’s all that matters. If everyone is available when it comes time for the playoffs, the 76ers have the talent to win a playoff series against anyone. Will they win four? That depends. Can Embiid close games as well as he starts them? Is Maxey prepared for the brightest spotlight? How well does George develop chemistry with the two of them? Can the supporting cast contribute? If the answer to all of the above is yes, the Sixers can absolutely win a title.
When everything falls apart
Embiid breaks down… again. George is either past his prime or too hurt to tell if he is. Maxey’s development hits a snag. They can’t find a rhythm together. Philadelphia’s collection of complementary players — especially Martin and Oubre — has more name recognition than its total number of contributors. They are prone to five-out fouls. The Sixers fall out in the first or second round… again. And we wonder why they spent $715 million on an injury-prone big, a 34-year-old wing and an undersized guard.
Fantasy twist
Adding George raises Philly’s fantasy floor. Maxey’s efficiency suffered when Embiid was off the floor. As for Embiid, he’s consistently one of the most used players in the league, but that workload often leads to injuries. George is an essential piece who fills multiple roles as a 3-and-D specialist, playmaker and shot creator for the Sixers.
Embiid is fifth in my rankings, with George as a late second-rounder, followed by Maxey as an early third-round pick. Oubre Jr. is the only other player generating fantasy interest and his ADP is in the 13th round. — Then Titus
Schedule 2024-25
Joel Embiid has won 53 games once in a season when he was the league’s MVP, and admitted he won’t be chasing that award again this year — or any other recognition beyond playoff success. Take the bottom.
