Season Wrap: The 2024-25 Philadelphia 76ers

  • By Keston Paul

    Last Updated on May 28, 2025 3:52 pm by Keston Paul | Published: May 28, 2025

    Hello there, I am a Sixers fan. I thank you for your kind messages and emotional support in advance.

    How’d It Go?

    It was not good. The Sixers went into 2024-25 feeling triumphant with their new “Big 3” of Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George, plus the seemingly successful coup of Caleb Martin in free agency and the savvy addition of Guerschon Yabusele after his performance in the Olympics for France. Unfortunately, years of playing through injuries and persistent knee issues caught up to Embiid as chronic left knee inflammation and swelling meant his season did not get started until November 12, then an incident with a reporter resulted in a three-game suspension and issues kept popping up to make him miss games. Embiid only managed to play four games in a row once, being limited to stints of one-to-three appearances during his 19 total games. Paul George also dealt with a bunch of injuries to what felt like all parts of his body and he was limited to to 41 total games. Tyrese Maxey struggled to lead the charge initially but he started cooking around January and that allowed the Sixers to finally put some wins on the board. However, Embiid’s final game was on February 22 and George’s last game was on March 4, so the Sixers decided to prioritize keeping their top-6 protected first-round pick that would go to the Thunder if it fell to No. 7 or lower.

    We got to see the ascension of Quentin Grimes, who was acquired at the trade deadline in a deal that sent Caleb Martin to the Mavs. Jared Butler, another trade deadline acquisition, received an upgraded deal to a standard contract and had his moments as well. Undrafted rookie signing Justin Edwards also earned himself a standard contract and No. 41 pick Adem Bona flashed superb fantasy production down the stretch as well. We also can’t forget Lonnie Walker IV, who was brought over from the EuroLeague at the last possible minute that it could be done. With all of the veterans essentially out of the way during the final month or so, the Sixers tried out a number of names on 10-day contracts and also ran out their guys on two-way contract to see what they can do.

    The tank was generally successful as the Sixers went into the lottery with the No. 5 odds. Still, things initially looked dicey as two teams below them (the Mavs and the Spurs) jumped into the top four, meaning the Sixers would lose their pick (falling to No. 7) if they didn’t jump higher in the lottery as well. Luckily, they did jump and they have the No. 3 pick to either use as a bargaining chip in a trade or to add a promising young talent to the roster.

    Coaching

    Nick Nurse joined the Sixers in the 2023 offseason and remains under contract. Unfortunately for him, joining to coach the then-reigning-MVP Joel Embiid has not panned out due to years of injuries stacking up and taking their toll on the big guy. Keep in mind that the Sixers missed their top players for most of the season and went into a major tank post-All-Star Break, so, Philly finished the campaign with a 111.0 offensive rating (23rd), 117.3 defensive rating (26th) and a net rating of -6.3 (25th).

    Nurse obviously came into the job with high expectations but we cannot really expect anything more from him given the circumstances. If anything can be judged or commended, it is both the utilization and development of young players like Jared McCain, Quentin Grimes, Justin Edwards, Adem Bona and Jared Butler. Besides McCain, the opportunity for the other names came with the territory of a tanking team, but the Sixers could have been flat and uninteresting during that period. Instead, the breakouts of some of those players could offer some useful depth for a franchise that likely has not given up on competing just yet.

    The Players

    Tyrese Maxey
    PG, Philadelphia Sixers
    SeasonTeamGPGSMPG FGMFGAFG% FTMFTAFT% 3PTM3PTA3PT% PTSREBAST STLBLKTO
    24-25 PHI 52 52 37.7 9.2 21.0 43.7 4.9 5.6 87.9 3.1 9.2 33.7 26.3 3.3 6.1 1.8 0.4 2.4
    23-24 PHI 70 70 37.5 9.1 20.3 45.0 4.7 5.4 86.8 3.0 8.1 37.3 25.9 3.7 6.2 1.0 0.5 1.7
    22-23 PHI 60 41 33.6 7.3 15.2 48.1 3.0 3.6 84.5 2.7 6.2 43.4 20.3 2.9 3.5 0.8 0.1 1.3

    ADP: 27.5 / 25.7 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 62/58 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 15/10 (8/9-cat)

    A right finger sprain officially ended Maxey’s season on March 3 with 52 appearances. He was also dealing with a back sprain but arguably could have played through those ailments if the team needed him to. That aside, Maxey produced a first-round season per game for 9-cat in 2024-25 as he improved to career-bests of 26.1 points, 3.1 triples, 1.8 steals and .879 FT%. He added 6.1 assists, 3.3 rebounds and a career-worst .437 FG%. The efficiency issues especially stood out in the first half of the season as Maxey struggled with the load of a full-time No. 1 option due to Joel Embiid’s left knee constantly flaring up and Paul George being unable to establish a rhythm as well. Maxey’s shooting ticked up around mid-January, as he finally seemed to adjust to the duties of the lead role on some level.

    Here are some nuances. Maxey played a league-leading 37.7 minutes per game this season and that helps his overall volume stats. Given Nick Nurse’s history and Maxey’s fitness level, I do not expect the big minutes to change significantly. Maxey also legitimately gets better every offseason due to his work ethic and targeted development areas. First it was his shooting, then his ball-handling and passing reads. Last offseason, it was adding strength and improving his handles further to play in a crowd. Maxey’s best and most efficient self is as a complement to another star as the second option, but I would not be surprised if he takes another leap into the “true No. 1 territory” just because of his work ethic. If he can retain his statistical growth in peripheral areas and regain some efficiency next season, he can very easily be a fantasy star once again.

    Joel Embiid
    C, Philadelphia Sixers
    SeasonTeamGPGSMPG FGMFGAFG% FTMFTAFT% 3PTM3PTA3PT% PTSREBAST STLBLKTO
    24-25 PHI 19 19 30.2 7.4 16.6 44.4 7.8 8.9 88.2 1.2 4.1 29.9 23.8 8.2 4.5 0.7 0.9 3.3
    23-24 PHI 39 39 33.6 11.5 21.8 52.9 10.2 11.6 88.3 1.4 3.6 38.8 34.7 11.0 5.6 1.2 1.7 3.8
    22-23 PHI 66 66 34.6 11.0 20.1 54.8 10.0 11.7 85.7 1.0 3.0 33.0 33.1 10.2 4.2 1.0 1.7 3.4

    ADP: 10.2/12.8 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 289/299 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 23/42 (8/9-cat)

    The effects of chronic left knee issues limited Embiid to a career-worst .444 FG% while only playing 19 total games. That means the per-game value was not even a saving grace for any manager unlucky enough to have drafted him as he simply was not the MVP-level Embiid of recent seasons. His 23.8 points per game were the third-lowest of his career. His 8.2 rebounds per game were the lowest outside of his rookie year and 0.9 blocks per game signaled a clear career low. The only real positive is that his free-throw shooting remained at peak levels with an 88.2% conversion rate.

    Embiid underwent another procedure in an attempt to correct the persistent swelling and inflammation in his left knee. However, we should be concerned since he has had multiple meniscus injuries in his left knee throughout his career and any solutions may only offer a temporary fix to a long-term problem. Think of it this way, his surgery in 2023-24 was a meniscectomy, which is the “trimming” or “removal” of the torn area to smoothen it out. That loss of tissue cannot be replaced. Lonzo Ball returned to play after a knee cartilage transplant and that was historic for a professional athlete, but the meniscus is a different mechanism, plus Embiid is bigger, heavier and older.

    Drafting Embiid moving forward might be a conundrum as his injury is chronic and we might not see that best-player-in-fantasy upside consistently again. Still, a reduced Embiid is still a magnificent fantasy producer if he can somehow load manage his way to 60-plus games. Is that realistic, though?

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    May 28, 2025, 3:18 pm