The Philadelphia 76ers are desperate to have a season much better than last year.
Luckily for them, it would be very hard to do worse than they did in 2024-25.
In a piece for Bleacher Report, Sean Hughes said that there are still a lot of major concerns floating around the team, but they should do better in 2025-26.
“The same health risks that wrecked Joel Embiid and Paul George’s 2024-25 continue to hover over the Philadelphia 76ers’ veteran stars. If anything, they’re a little scarier because both have undergone knee operations since the end of last year. It’s still hard to imagine the team posting another win total in the 20s. Jared McCain should be able to turn in a full year, as should restricted free agent Quentin Grimes. Maxey could take another step forward. If the Sixers merely avoid the worst luck possible, they’ll add 10-15 wins to last year’s total of 24. And if they actually have some good fortune, they could pile up over 30 additional victories,” Hughes wrote.
As a reminder, the Sixers had an abysmal 24-58 record last season.
That was only months after acquiring Paul George, which was seen as a massive move that was supposed to help them be one of the best teams in the league.
But even before the season got started, George and Joel Embiid were hurt.
Things went from bad to worse, and the injury list grew over the months until all hope of reaching the playoffs was gone.
George and Embiid had surgery over the summer, which might help them in, but perhaps not immediately.
It may take some time before they are playing at 100 percent again, and the team could suffer because of that.
The 76ers might not be the Eastern Conference champions they hope to be, but they should be able to perform better and put last season and its painful memories in the rearview mirror.
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