To call the Philadelphia 76ers' 2024-25 season an abject failure might just be an understatement.
Heading into the opening night as the big winners of free agency, able to retain key players like Kelly Oubre Jr. and Andre Drummond while adding the biggest fish on the market, Paul George, to a four-year max contract, the 76ers took injury after injury after injury over the 82-game season, limping to the finish line with a 24-58 record and massive questions about the future.
The offense, expected to be led by dominant ISO scorers with 3-and-D wings around them, became increasingly one-dimensional as Joel Embiid and George landed on the season-ending injury report, with Tyrese Maxey increasingly unable to keep the team in playoff contention on his own. While the emergence of Quentin Grimes certainly helped to make things easier and kept 76ers fans watching games even if the results rarely shook out in their favor, in the end, the season was largely a wash in the worst possible way.
Fast forward to the start of free agency, and the 76ers haven't done much to really tip the needle in their favor. They selected VJ Edgecombe third overall, a decision that was popular at the time, even if some fans have fallen back in love with Ace Bailey after some strong preseason efforts. The 76ers added a few more interesting young players like Johni Broome in the second round, Trendon Watford and Jabari Walker in NBA free agency, and preseason surprise Dominick Barlow on a two-way deal, but even with a few young, fresh faces on the roster, can they really expect to become the kind of team that recaptures their former glory?
As things presently stand, the 76ers aren't exactly considered favorites to make the playoffs, even in the Eastern Conference. At best, some consider the team a wildcard, the kind of club that could make waves if everything hits correctly and busts brackets and the dreams of opposing franchises alike.
And at worst? Well, the 76ers will be back in the lottery, where they will at least own their own pick unless they pull off a surprising trade between now and next summer to go in another direction.
To fans who lived through the process, watching the 76ers in 2025 might not be the most exciting pursuit, as it very well could make the end of a decade-long pursuit of championship gold once and for all, but what if it isn't? What if the 76ers click the way they were “supposed to” last fall and hit the ground running in an Eastern Conference where both the Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers are expected to have a down year following playoff injuries to their top players? Could they get back to the playoffs, making it to the Eastern Conference, or even break through that ceiling to finally give Embiid a chance to represent the East in the NBA Finals? Respectfully, it might not be as hot a take as one might think.
The 76ers finally make the Eastern Conference Finals with Joel Embiid
When the 2026 NBA playoffs roll around, there's a very real possibility that the Pacers and Celtics, the last two teams to represent the division in the NBA Finals, will not be represented when the field shrinks to eight, with the two teams potentially fighting for spots in the Play-In Tournament down Tyrese Haliburton and Jayson Tatum.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are still looking good after coming just short of the NBA Finals last season. The New York Knicks are also widely considered the favorite to lead the division after loading up on quality players last year, even if they just changed head coaches, and both the Orlando Magic and the Milwaukee Bucks have to be in the conversation, too, after bringing Desmond Bane and Myles Turner to town, but who is really sitting behind that four? There are the Atlanta Hawks, the Detroit Pistons, and a whole lot of question marks at the bottom of the conference.
The 76ers, by contrast, are bringing back the same team that looked to be really good on paper last season before the start of the regular season, plus Jared McCain, who blew up for about a month before suffering a season-ending injury, Grimes, who blew up over the final month of the season, and VJ Edgecombe, who fills an archetype the 76ers have been looking for since they selected Zhaire Smith back in 2018.
With a deep frontcourt and an ability to shuffle around guards like Maxey, McCain, Grimes, and Edgecombe across multiple spots this fall, the 76ers should be able to match up against opposing teams at ease and should hopefully play a less selfish brand of basketball this fall, a goal Nick Nurse highlighted during the preseason.
Now granted, will losing Gersaun Yabusele hurt the 76ers' playoff pursuits? Potentially so, but he spent most of last season playing small-ball center and barely got to show if he could hang with Embiid as a full-time power forward. While Barlow has been a fun story during the preseason, his addition, plus Broome, Watford, and Walker, should give the 76ers plenty of options at the power forward position moving forward, especially as Nurse attempts to try some two-towers looks with Embiid at the four to allow Adem Bona to do the dirty work in the paint.
Throw that all together, and the 76ers might just be a top-3 team in the East when everything is said and done, with a chance to make some serious waves in the postseason when everything is said and done.
Ultimately, the 76ers aren't as bad a team as they looked like in 2024-25. They got unlucky with injuries in a way that basically no other team could weather, as the Pacers and Celtics will soon learn, and as a result, are being overlooked despite their typical pedigree. If the 76ers can stay healthy, they will undoubtedly be a better team this season than what they were expected to be last year, with the contracts and assets needed to make a midseason move to get even better before the playoffs. Considering the field in 2026, this might just be the year Embiid cracks through his glass ceiling and makes it to the Eastern Conference Finals, with a chance at the NBA Finals a possibility depending on the draw.
