While the Sixers still have some business to attend to before their offseason can be complete, most of their Eastern Conference cohorts have just about wrapped up their work ahead of the 2025-26 season in the fall.
Now is as good of a time as ever to survey the landscape of an Eastern Conference that has lost a pair of championship-caliber teams due to superstar injuries. Very few sure things exist in the conference this year, and there is plenty of opportunity for new contenders to arise.
The Sixers are running back a roster fairly similar to the one that finished out last season in hopes of improved health and continued development from younger players propelling them back into contention. But how have the teams they will have to surpass changed over the summer?
Up next: the Milwaukee Bucks, whose unusual offseason has neared an end without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo requesting a trade as many have anticipated. How good can Antetokounmpo make this team with its suspect depth? Will Milwaukee experience enough success to keep him happy?
SCOUTING THE SIXERS' COMPETITION
Boston Celtics | Indiana Pacers | Cleveland Cavaliers
New York Knicks | Milwaukee Bucks
Roster changes
Antetokounmpo showing no signs of a trade demand to this point is the best offseason development the Bucks could have asked for. Armed with a bit of financial flexibility for the first time in many years, the Bucks went all-in on trying to improve around Antetokounmpo by making a move that can best be described as desperate. Milwaukee stole Indiana mainstay Myles Turner away from the Pacers on a four-year, $108 million contract. In order to free up that money, though, the Bucks waived and stretched Damian Lillard, who will now carry a dead cap hit of more than $22.5 million on Milwaukee's books for each of the next five seasons.
The Bucks got better this summer. But was it by a margin significant enough to justify the voluntary handicapping they have done to their finances for the next half-decade?
Added: Myles Turner (free agency), Cole Anthony (free agency), Gary Harris (free agency)
Retained: Gary Trent Jr., Kevin Porter Jr., Jericho Sims, Ryan Rollins, Taurean Prince
Extended: none
Lost: Damian Lillard, Brook Lopez
It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out why the Bucks targeted Turner. As Lopez's wildly successful time with the team came to a close, Turner represents an upgrade while possessing the same three-point shooting and shot-blocking talents that made Lopez such a strong fit alongside Antetokounmpo. But to go to these lengths to add Turner, who at his best is a solid starting center, is reckless.
Depth chart projection
There is almost no way to truly make it worth it for a team to take on five years of dead cap hits at $22.5 million. But it certainly does not feel like the right gamble when your team still amounts to this:
PG SG SF PF C
Kevin Porter Jr. Gary Trent Jr. Kyle Kuzma Giannis Antetokounmpo Myles Turner
Cole Anthony A.J. Green Taurean Prince Bobby Portis Jericho Sims
Ryan Rollins Gary Harris Chris Livingston Tyler Smith
Andre Jackson Jr.
Antetokounmpo is the best player in the Eastern Conference; in the vast majority of games he is the best player on the floor. There is no doubt he is a force multiplier. But this supporting cast around him, simply put, is not good enough and still too old. The Bucks actually have decent depth at guard, with six players capable of holding down a rotation spot. However, none of them profile as starting-caliber players. Having six fourth guards only does so much, particularly when Kyle Kuzma is liable to be invisible on any given night.
Sixers ties
There are no ties to the Sixers on Milwaukee's standard roster, though one of their two-way players, Pete Nance, signed a pair of two-way deals with the Sixers last winter before being waived for good after the trade deadline.
Milwaukee has plenty of connections to the Sixers on its coaching staff, though, with head coach Doc Rivers being the headliner. After three years in Philadelphia, Rivers spent a few months as a television analyst before taking over in Milwaukee. His staff with the Bucks features multiple assistants who worked with him in Philadelphia, including Dave Joerger, Jason Love and his son Spencer Rivers.
MORE: Everything you need to know about the Sixers' 2025-26 schedule
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