Since the Sixers season ended on April 13, we have been dissecting the season-long performances of each player to finish the campaign with the team on standard, full-season contracts in Sixers year-in-review. Each player was evaluated through every possible lens: film, statistics, relevant quotes and important contractual information.
For folks who missed any of the year-in-review stories, consider this a one-stop shop:
"The Big Three"
• Will Joel Embiid ever find his MVP form again?
"At this point, the question is not what level of performance Embiid will be capable of submitting when he returns to playing consistently, but whether or not he will ever be capable of playing consistently again. If he never reaches that point again, the Sixers are in for a long four years…"
• Can Paul George recover after a disappointing season?
"George's inability to explode en route to the rim led to him taking even more difficult jumpers than he is used to. George is one of the more talented shooters of his time, so he has enough skill and ability there to get by. But his collection of shot attempts is growing more and more challenging, and if the trend continues, he will have zero equity as a go-to scorer for any stretches of games, purely valuable as an off-ball player. This would not make him bad, but it would make it nearly impossible for him to even come close to living up to his contract."
• How can Tyrese Maxey rebound after down year?
"Then 2024-25 came, and suddenly Maxey was performing like a clear positive-impact defender. He will never be an on-ball ace, but he was able to stand out with terrific playmaking. Maxey utilized his length, athleticism and impressive instincts to find avenues to poke the ball away or intercept passes. Nurse's staff tried to engineer situations in which the ball was funneled in Maxey's direction to enable his gambles, and they often paid off."
Role players with uncertain futures
• Guerschon Yabusele proved he belongs in the NBA
"Yabusele knocked down 38 percent of his long-range tries. He did so on significant volume, taking 3.9 three-point attempts per game (7.1 attempts per 100 possessions). Yabusele hovered around 40 percent for much of the season and never once showed any hesitation. If he had room to fire away, he fired away, and defenses reacted accordingly. Yabusele became a genuine floor-spacer, which not only opened up the floor for drivers but also allowed him to attack closeouts. Yabusele's shot was the driving force behind his status as a quality offensive center, but it was not the only one."
• Is it time to give Kelly Oubre Jr. a raise?
"Oubre must decide on his player option for 2025-26 worth $8,382,150 by June 29. If he declines the option, Oubre would become an unrestricted free agent; if he picks up the option he would be eligible to be traded at any point."
• Is Andre Drummond headed for the trade block?
"Even if Drummond’s offense could get back to its previous standards — wholly unspectacular but typically acceptable — there are much bigger issues at hand. The main problem: he is who he is as a defender, where he has never been a quality rim protector or shot-blocker and does not have the requisite foot speed to switch on the perimeter."
• Does Kyle Lowry returning for one more year actually make sense for both sides?
"The notion that Lowry cannot provide any value to the Sixers next season is outright false, and just about every member of the organization would stand behind that. But is leadership and mentorship worth a roster spot on a team filled with injury-prone players?"
• Does Eric Gordon have any good seasons left?
"The Sixers failed to ever witness anything resembling the vision they had for the team they constructed. Even worse, they never actually got to see it fail. The Embiid-Gordon partnership is one of many aspects of the team that was supposed to be valuable but never got set in motion."
• Did Jared Butler do enough to secure a roster spot next season?
"Traditional point guards, as enjoyable as they can be to watch when things are running smoothly, feel like a bit of a dying breed. In an era in which pull-up shot-making and defensive versatility are more coveted than ever, is there even room for the undersized, not-that-explosive floor generals like Butler?"
• Has Lonnie Walker IV earned another look?
"Walker taking and making shots at this scale is not something that will carry over to any version of the Sixers that is even remotely healthy, but Walker has more than enough scoring chops to take over a game for a spurt and even swing games in his team's favor if he has a hot night."
Young players
• Quentin Grimes shatters expectations after trade, with free agency ahead
"For Grimes to take his first chance to operate as a primary scorer in stride like this — combining massive volume with above-average efficiency — all while playing with a collection of new teammates, many of which were far from rotation-caliber players in the NBA, is a massive accomplishment in itself, even if that lackluster supporting cast prevented Grimes' scoring binges from translating to many wins."
• Jared McCain looks like a real building block
"McCain's long stretch of terrific scoring in November and early games in December was really something to behold. With just a few weeks of NBA experience under his belt, McCain was putting the league on notice by torching all sorts of defensive coverages despite skyrocketing from the bottom of the scouting report to the absolute top of it during a stretch in which Maxey was sidelined, Embiid was laboring and Paul George was in and out of the lineup."
• Justin Edwards proves to be 'a great hidden gem' in rookie season
"Edwards does not have any outlier skills, but with clear competence in just about every aspect of the game, he found a way to not just look the part of a quality rotation wing, but earn significant trust from his coaching staff. Edwards has a very good frame that enables him to be versatile defensively despite only being a decent athlete. His confidence and quick trigger as a three-point shooter help him overcome only decent accuracy. More than anything, though, Edwards' obvious feel for the game is what powered his two-way production."
• Adem Bona impresses coaches and teammates alike in rookie season
"'I think his play is just super reflective of his personality and his energy and vibe as a person,' Butler said after the Sixers' penultimate game on April 11. '…That's his energy. That's just like who he is off the court. And that's what I've been seeing behind the scenes… It's been great to see him grow. As a rookie, it's hard to do, man.'"
• Is Ricky Council IV at risk of being waived?
"At no point during this season did it seem like the Sixers were happy with what they were getting from Council — nor did he ever seem satisfied with his opportunities or overall performance. Council's lack of reliability to make the right decisions doomed his chances of earnest any sort of consistent trust from head coach Nick Nurse and the rest of the Sixers' staff. Time and time again, Council was thrown into the action and would hurt his stock with a batch of poor judgments that did not jive with the team's points of emphasis."
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