Welcome to our Sixers player preview series, where in the weeks leading up to Media Day we will preview the upcoming 2025-26 season for each and every member of the Sixers' standard roster. For each player, we will pose two key questions about their season before making a prediction.
The pressure is on after a miserable 24-58 campaign last season. After entering a year with championship aspirations and spending multiple months having to tank for the sake of a protected first-round pick, the Sixers have lost any and all benefit of the doubt that their signature season is finally coming.
It is safe to say there is a whole lot of work to do on the Sixers' end to prove the doubters wrong. Do they have a roster good enough to make it happen?
Up next: Kyle Lowry, the hometown kid whose NBA career may be on its final legs as it reaches year 20. Lowry, 39, is back in the fold to provide the leadership in the locker room which has endeared him to many Sixers youngsters. But can he provide any on-court value? Does he need to in order to pay off his veteran's minimum contract?
SIXERS PLAYER PREVIEWS
Jared McCain | Justin Edwards | VJ Edgecombe | Kyle Lowry
Does Lowry have any good minutes left in the tank?
If Lowry's limited playing time last season tells us anything, the answer to this question is a definitive no. After a red-hot three-point shooting stretch powered Lowry in the opening weeks of his 19th NBA season, his accuracy from beyond the arc dipped, hip injuries began to take a toll and Lowry no longer looked like someone with the requisite mobility to keep up at the NBA level. He only played in 35 games -- fewer appearances than any season since his rookie year -- and his production was not up to par. Lowry posted a whole host of career-lows:
Category Kyle Lowry 2024-25
Points per game 3.9
Assists per game 2.7
Field goal percentage 35.0%
Two-point field goal attempts per 100 possessions 2.2
True shooting percentage 52.5%
Lowry has never relied on top-tier explosion, but his athleticism looked completely shot last year. He was a total non-threat to create any shot for himself or others, despite being a brilliant passer and reader of defenses. He simply could not create advantages off the dribble, so there is not much of an expansive ball-handling role that he is fit for anymore.
So on offense, Lowry is at best going to serve as a spot-up shooter. He cannot be asked to create offense despite being one of the greatest point guards of a generation. But his defensive role will be limited, too. Lowry actually can be helpful on the defensive end of the floor in a specialized role because he has so much strength and even more smarts.
But there are only so many times the Sixers can ask him to quarterback a zone defense on the back end or defend a wing with power but not speed. He does not fit into any sort of conventional defensive role because he stands at 6-foot and does not have the movement capabilities required to even compete with players of a similar size.
Will Lowry's leadership alone be worth a roster spot all season?
Lowry's basketball capabilities at age 39 -- soon to be 40 -- are clearly questionable at best. But the Sixers brought him back because of the role he fills in the locker room, a leadership position he will only become more suited for as time goes on. Lowry has a very close connection with Sixers head coach Nick Nurse; his ability to serve as a bridge between players and coaches should be useful.
But being a messenger from one party to another is not the key aspect of Lowry's off-court role with the Sixers. In what will soon become two decades as an NBA player, Lowry has forgotten more about being a professional basketball player than most people ever find out. Lowry is a savant with a master's degree in basketball strategy. His leadership skills range from on-court advice to professionalism guidance to the sort of blunt tone that this team clearly needs. As a result, several young players have grown extremely close with him, from Tyrese Maxey to Jared McCain to fellow hometown kid Justin Edwards.
All of that is meaningful. But on a team with questionable depth at multiple positions and three max contracts, will the Sixers be able to justify using a roster spot on a glorified assistant coach for the entire season? Lowry is not the first player to be signed to a contract with the intention of being more important behind the scenes than on the floor. He will not be the last. But making a signing of that ilk is much easier for teams with secure rotations. The Sixers do not have that.
If Lowry did not make it through the season on this roster, it would not somehow be an indictment of his leadership ability or mentorship skills. Rather, it would be a sign that the Sixers' shaky depth is cratering to the degree that Lowry's roster spot must be used on someone with a stronger chance of providing quality minutes.
MORE: Do Sixers have best group of two-way players in the NBA?
Prediction
Lowry is never a rotation piece for a prolonged period with the Sixers, but the team remains pleased with his leadership and he is on the roster for the entirety of the season.
Lowry is beloved within the Sixers organization. He has been open about his designs on playing his 20th and final season for his hometown team. It feels pretty unlikely that the team would dump him midseason, especially because the roster contains other potential weak links whose departures would be far less emotional for everyone involved.
The most plausible scenario in which Lowry finishes the season with another team is one in which the Sixers are out of playoff contention by the middle of February and Lowry wants to join a team with championship aspirations. Him rising to the level of being able to contribute for such a team is extremely unlikely, but some team selling itself on a player with Lowry's track record is not inconceivable.
The guess here: Lowry is in Philadelphia for his 40th birthday on March 25, and then for at least another few weeks. His Sixers tenure will end after this season at two-plus years, and a remarkable 20-year NBA career will come to a close. A Hall of Fame induction should come a few years later.
MORE: VJ Edgecombe talks rookie season with PhillyVoice
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