Following an immensely eventful offseason, expectations will be much higher for the Philadelphia 76ers next season. The team has already been pegged as a top team in the East with just Joel Embiid and Tyrese, but by adding Paul George, fans and pundits alike expect them to truly contend for the championship.
The league is currently in its longest idle phase, but it won’t take rocket science to pinpoint the ceiling of this new-look 76ers squad. That being said, amid growing parity in the NBA, can they separate themselves from the pack? Here are four, bold predictions for Philadelphia in the 2024-25 season.
4. Paul George will flirt with the 50-40-90 club but average under 20 points for the 76ers
Last season, George turned in a career-high in three-point shooting percentage, draining 41.3 percent of his attempts from rainbow country. He also canned 47.1 percent of his field goal attempts, another personal best for the nine-time All-Star. Not enough? To add, he sunk 90.7 percent of his free throws, and as you might have guessed by now, that’s also a career-best mark.
Expect that to continue next season. With opposing defenses constantly swarming and denying Embiid in the post and playing tag with Maxey, George would be the recipient of so many open looks from his pet spots beyond the arc and in the elbows. His volume and efficient shooting would be a refreshing addition to a 76ers offense that seemed too monotonous at times.
However, playing as a de facto third fiddle, George could end up averaging south of 20 points per game unless his co-stars miss significant time due to injury and his shot attempts go up by necessity. Still, he should warrant serious All-Star consideration even with a reduced role thanks to his high-end, three-and-D skill.
3. Ricky Council IV will end up being the starting shooting guard
Philadelphia still has no resolute option to register as the starting shooting guard. Tyrese Maxey will be starting at the 1. Kelly Oubre Jr., whom most depth charts have penciled in as the starting 2, makes more functional sense as a microwave bench scorer. Jared McCain has no shot with Nick Nurse known for preferring veteran comodities, at least to start the season off. Eric Gordon is passé.
Whil he’s unlikely to start come opening night, my money is on Ricky Council IV to end the season as the starting shooting guard. The 22-year-old earned a standard NBA contract as the previous campaign was winding down, and he carried that momentum as he turned in a breakout stint in the Summer League.
Council is a pesky defender who can provide the 76ers with the intangibles they need for a low-volume wing. He won’t be tasked to score much, but he is an opportunistic rim runner who can log points in a hurry. As long as his three-point shot improves, the door is wide open for him to be a major asset for the team.
2. Joel Embiid falls short of another MVP award
The 76ers were the No. 2 team in the East before Joel Embiid went down to injury last season. By all odds, Philadelphia should be flirting with the pole position in the conference in 2024-25 unless the 2023 Most Valuable Players misses a big chunk of the season. While this is a leap of faith, we digress.
In fact, count on the team to turn in a very strong regular season campaign that should have Embiid in serious MVP consideration. He was the undisputed favorite before his injury last season, and his numbers should continue to be the same where it was. However, he’s probably going to fall short of another MVP trophy.
The award is the most narrative-based one in the NBA, and this time, the strength of the 76ers’ sum could be something the media and the voters could leverage against Embiid’s individual brilliance. Anyway, winning MVP wouldn’t be his priority next season with the team having a reasonable shot to come out of the East and play in the NBA Finals.
1. The 76ers make the Conference Finals and unseat the defending champs
Before we shoehorn Philly into Finals conversations, though, they must first clear an unyielding hurdle — the Conference Semifinals. The 76ers have been booted out of the second round a staggering five times in the last seven editions of the NBA playoffs and have never sniffed the Conference Finals since Allen Iverson’s MVP year.
That should change this season. While the East still touts the likes of Boston, New York, and Milwaukee not to mention last year’s Conference Finalists in Indiana and prennial challengers in Miami, Cleveland, and Orlando, Philadelphia is stronger than nearly all of those teams on paper. At best, the team dominates and barges into the league’s Final Four.
In the spirit of daring propositions, though, let’s put out one more attendant wrinkle to this otherwise bold prediction, at least context-wise — the 76ers, in poetic fashion, will be the ones to unseat the defending champions as they head to the NBA Finals against the Western Conference’s representative.
