Even in Philadelphia, the beginning of a season invites folks to feel hope and optimism. In an era of Sixers basketball littered with regular season success and limited playoff achievement, many believed entered the 2024-25 season that it would finally be the year the team broke through, thanks to a collection of new pieces viewed as perfect fits.
And then the season started, and chaos ensued: the Sixers never got off the ground due to injuries and subpar performance across their entire roster. Their season eventually devolved into a two-month tanking effort which helped them secure the fifth-worst record in the NBA.
With a disastrous season now in the rearview mirror, let's take a look back at the results of an expansive preseason survey conducted by PhillyVoice — which, in retrospect, are a bit harrowing:
Expectation of major success
Unlike in the lead-up to the prior season, when James Harden's trade demand and a humiliating playoff exit had many resigned to the Sixers taking a step back, there was plenty of optimism that the team could return to genuine championship contention:
Nearly half of the folks who took the survey expected the team to snap its infamous Eastern Conference Finals drought and lose in that round, while fewer than one out of four respondents expected anything less than that. Not a single person predicted the team would miss the playoffs entirely, yet that is exactly what happened.
Another question posed to the 300-plus respondents: what would constitute a successful season for the Sixers? For just over half of voters, the Eastern Conference Finals remained the benchmark, with everyone else aiming even higher:
Perhaps these voters will settle for 24 wins and a top-six pick in the first round next June.
Optimism on Joel Embiid and Paul George contracts
Many people — local and national — crowned the Sixers as winners of the offseason, as they perfectly executed their plan to add a third star to Embiid and Tyrese Maxey after carefully preserving cap space for a calendar year. Their ability to hand out major deals to add a new star and extend their franchise cornerstone was what created much of the excitement surrounding the organization at the time — and those two contracts are the primary drivers of the apathy surrounding the team now.
The new star the Sixers were hoping to add to the fold ended up being nine-time All-Star Paul George, coming off an excellent season with the Los Angeles Clippers and taking with him to Philadelphia a reputation as one of the most portable stars in recent league history, a player whose defensive acumen and brilliant shooting could make him a strong fit in every single team context. The Sixers handed George a four-year max contract worth over $211 million to form what many believed was the strongest trio of stars of any team in the NBA.
Not only did more than 75 percent of respondents indicate they wanted the Sixers to sign George before it happened, but a nearly identical portion of them graded the deal between an A+ and an A-:
Unfortunately for the Sixers, this deal has already aged very poorly. George only made 41 appearances in his debut season for the Sixers, and when he did play he showed zero signs of star-like production. With noticeable diminished off-the-dribble burst, George looked like a useful off-ball role player tasked with handling a star's scoring workload — and the results were ominous, the worst in the last decade-plus for George. With George about to turn 35 years old, the Sixers might have to operate under the assumption he will be a much different player for them than he was for the Clippers and other teams.
At the time this survey was conducted, Embiid had not yet signed his three-year, $193 million contract extension which tied the former NBA MVP to the only organization he has ever known for at least another half-decade (he is now under contract for four more years and owed an additional $248 million). George's season might have been alarming, but Embiid's was legitimately cataclysmic. Embiid only played 19 games, and at no point during the season was he consistently available due to ongoing knee troubles which forced him to undergo another surgery last month. When Embiid did play, his mobility was horrid and he looked like a shell of himself.
Now, the Sixers making such a massive commitment to Embiid could sink their franchise for years to come — and that decision has drawn ire in Philadelphia and mockery elsewhere. But, when asked if they would offer Embiid that massive extension, the overwhelming majority of respondents said yes:
If the question was now posed to the same people of whether or not they are glad this contract was signed, the results would be a whole lot different.
Trust in Daryl Morey and Nick Nurse
Morey seemed to restore a lot of trust he had lost amid the Harden saga when his year-long plan came to fruition, and Nurse earned additional respect in his first year coaching the Sixers. The collective faith in the organization's two key off-court figures appeared to be at an all-time high:
If you are in charge of the Sixers, this is likely as favorable of an approval rating as you will ever be able to attain. And it is a far cry from where Morey and Nurse stand just eight months later: Morey's decisions to pay Embiid and George have led to many calling for his job, while his other roster-building tactics also came under fire this year. Nobody would argue that Nurse coached under ideal circumstances this season, but his own struggles were evident during the season. When Morey announced at his joint exit interview with Nurse that both of them would return next season, it appeared to be an unpopular decision by Sixers ownership among the fan base.
Bold predictions
The most enjoyable aspect of this survey was the massive collection of bold predictions, where respondents were encouraged to get as wild as they pleased in calling their shots. The most common archetype of prediction was anticipating a major breakout, and there were two players that garnered the most buzz on that front.
The first was Ricky Council IV, predicted by some to be a Sixth Man of the Year Award contender or winner. One person guessed Council would win the Slam Dunk Contest, another said he would be starting in the Eastern Conference Finals. None of that came to fruition, as Council had a sophomore campaign so disappointing that he may not have a roster spot locked down moving forward.
However, the next player many predicted could emerge was Guerschon Yabusele, and that turned out to be on the money. Yabusele, the last person signed to the team's standard roster before the start of the season, ended up being arguably the most consistent player all year long, no matter what role or position he was asked to fill. Multiple people predicted he would work his way into the starting lineup, though it is difficult to imagine any of them anticipating that would come at the five.
There were also a few people to predict Jared McCain's emergence, even though most people who graded the Sixers' selection of the Duke guard at No. 16 overall fell in the range of a B:
Quite a few people predicted McCain would win the Rookie of the Year Award, and he was the clear favorite to do just that before a torn meniscus ended his season.
Let's end this with a batch of predictions that did not exactly age well…
• "The Sixers reacquire Ben Simmons at the trade deadline. Ben is holding the ball as time expires in the Sixers elimination game, down 1 point."
• "Embiid and PG will play their healthiest season in their careers and will go on to win the championship."
• "Reggie Jackson plays a significant role in the playoffs, including a 25+ point game."
SIXERS YEAR-IN-REVIEW
Joel Embiid | Guerschon Yabusele | Paul George | Jared McCain | Tyrese Maxey | Andre Drummond | Quentin Grimes | Jared Butler | Kyle Lowry | Kelly Oubre Jr. | Justin Edwards | Ricky Council IV | Eric Gordon | Lonnie Walker IV | Adem Bona
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