After a disappointing 2024-2025 season, the Philadelphia 76ers are looking to revive themselves ahead of the coming season. They have made a few additions to their roster while expecting the return of their star players. As the Sixers prepare for the new season, the expectation remains that they will become the contenders they weren’t in the previous season.
However, the Sixers’ offense received a rather discouraging grade in a recent assessment of the offenses of all 30 NBA teams by Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz, which suggests another average year ahead.
Hardly any comment about the Sixers can be made without many references to the injuries that disrupted the team’s 2024-2025 season. Sadly, the same cause of their woeful performance in the previous season is why there’s so much uncertainty and negativity being projected in the coming season.
The trio of Paul George, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey was hampered by injuries, and there are doubts regarding their ability to live up to expectations once the regular season begins. Also, Greg Swartz identified the absence of a power forward in the Sixers team, which doesn’t look too good when one considers the possibility of the team lacking enough hands should injuries intrude again.
“George underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in the middle of July and will almost certainly miss the beginning of the season. At age 35, it’s fair to question if he’ll ever come close to making an All-Star team again.
Swartz continued, “Embiid played a career-low 19 games last season and is 31. There’s also no true power forward on this team, meaning George or Kelly Oubre Jr. will likely be forced to play the position. There are just too many injury concerns to think this will be a consistently good offense.”
Still, the Sixers are not completely a group submerged in negativity and hopelessness. Nick Nurse and company could have something for their fans to enjoy this season with the addition of VJ Edgecombe and a generally younger and more athletic roster than last season.
Swartz also acknowledged that exciting youth: “Even as veterans like Joel Embiid and Paul George fight through injuries, a nice young core is building here. Adding No. 3 overall pick VJ Edgecombe alongside Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain gives this team a tantalizing backcourt to build around for the next decade. As long as Maxey was on the floor last season, the Sixers had an above-average offense (115.3 rating, 56th percentile).”
If predictions were absolute, the Sixers would have been contenders last season. Still, granting the offense a C- grade is understandable, considering their struggles last season and current uncertainty. Hopefully, the upcoming season will be more favorable, and the offense can put up an “A” performance if things fall in their favor.
