76ers season preview: With two of the worst contracts in the NBA, Philadelphia starts off again in darkness

Review of last season

The 76ers in the 24-25 season were shocking. They introduced Paul George and they were originally one of the favorites to win the championship. However, as Embiid and George were troubled by injuries, the team ended dismally, ranking 13th in the Eastern Conference with 24 wins and 58 losses.

From a competitive perspective, the 76ers must have failed this season. With three major stars, Embiid, George, and Maxi, they only managed 24 wins in the end. But there is also a good side. After missing the playoffs, the 76ers were able to participate in the lottery. Later, they won the third pick in the lottery and kept their first round this year. The 76ers' first round this year was originally given to the Thunder in the Horford trade, but it was protected by the top six picks. After getting the No. 3 pick, the 76ers successfully kept their first round this year.

Main Operations in the Offseason

Looking back on the 76ers this summer, they basically had no operations worth mentioning. This is partly because their core lineup was completed last summer, and partly because the Big Three teams are like this. Money is spent on three stars. Unless the team owner is like Ballmer and doesn't care about paying taxes, he will have no money to bring in powerful players. The combined salary of Embiid, George, and Maxi for the new season reaches 144 million U.S. dollars (the new season's salary cap is 154 million U.S. dollars), which is only 43 million U.S. dollars away from the luxury tax line. The team still needs to deploy about 12 more players. How much money can it have to sign people.

Let’s briefly review what the 76ers did this summer.

Gave up Jared Butler and Lonnie Walker. The 76ers rejected Butler and Walker's team options for next season this summer. These are two small transactions. Butler's salary next season is 2.35 million, and Walker's salary next season is 2.94 million.

Signed with Watford for 5.26 million in two years (second-year team option), Lowry with a one-year contract extension of 3.63 million, Eric Gordon with a one-year contract with 3.63 million, and Justin Edwards with a 3-year contract of 7.08 million (third-year team option). There is nothing much to say about these four signings. Among the four players, Lowry and Gordon are very famous, but Lowry is 39 and Gordon turned 37 in December this year. It is unlikely to provide much help in the new season.

The 76ers also renewed Grimes' contract this summer. We will discuss this together with Abusele's departure.

For the 76ers, they wanted to keep Grimes and Yabusele this summer, but the offer provided was without sincerity. New York reporter Bondy once reported that the 76ers' offer to Yabusele was a minimum salary. Regarding Grimes, there are reports that the 76ers' one-year offer is 9 million and the four-year offer is 39 million. In the end, both talks collapsed, and Yabusele joined the Knicks for $11.28 million in two years. Grimes finally signed a one-year qualifying offer of $8.7 million because he was a restricted free agent.

After joining the 76ers in the middle of last season, Grimes averaged 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game, and averaged 37.3% three-point shooting percentage per game. Yabusele averaged 11 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game last season, with three shooting percentages of 50.1/38.0/72.5%. Both of them showed their strength, but the 76ers' offer did not have any sincerity, and it was inevitable that they would break up.

In terms of the draft, the 76ers selected Edgecombe with the third overall pick this year. This player is 1.93 meters tall and is a shooting guard. His player templates are Oladipo and Jaylen Green. The team currently doesn't have many players on the back line, and Edgecombe will have a chance in the new season. His space to play may be determined by the team's record in the new season. If the team's Big Three reunite and advance all the way in the new season, then the 76ers will be in championship mode and will not spend too much energy training him; if Embiid and George are still troubled by injuries in the new season and the team's performance is sluggish, then they are likely to switch to training mode, and Edgecombe will be the key training target.

Current lineup

Guards: Maxey, Edgecombe, Grimes, McCain, Lowry, Gordon, Justin Edwards, Sallis (two-way)

Forwards: George, Oubre, Watford, Jabari Walker (two-way), Domini K-Barlow (two-way)

Inside: Embiid, Drummond, Bona, Bloom

New season preview

Can Embiid and George stay healthy?

Can Embiid and George finish the new season healthy? This is the biggest question for the 76ers at the moment. The success or failure of the team in the new season also depends on these two people. In addition to Embiid, George and Maxey, the only one on the team with an annual salary of over 10 million is this year's No. 3 pick Edgcomb (the league has relevant regulations on the salary of first-round picks and is not determined by the 76ers). This is the characteristic of the Big Three team. If one of the Big Three cannot play, the team's strength may be greatly affected. If two of the Big Three cannot play, the team may be finished.

If Embiid and George are relatively healthy and have a high attendance rate after returning in the new season, then the 76ers will obviously regain their competitiveness and are likely to return to the playoffs.

With two huge junk contracts in hand, the 76ers are making no progress

Due to injuries, Embiid's attendance rate has not been high in the past two seasons. He played 39 games in the 23-24 season and 19 games last season; George only played 41 games last season. He injured his knee in a training this summer and underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. Under this circumstance, both of their contracts have become big garbage contracts. Embiid has four years left on his contract worth 242 million, fully guaranteed, and the 35-year-old George has three years left on his contract worth 162 million, fully guaranteed, with a player option in the last year.

For the 76ers, they have made no progress and can only hope that Embiid and George will be healthier in the future. These two players currently have no trade value. It is difficult for the 76ers to break up the team and start a new one. The Big Three model leaves them with no lineup depth. It will be a disaster if Embiid and George cannot be healthy and play consistently in the new season..

Record& ranking prediction

The physical conditions of Embiid and George are very uncertain, which makes the 76ers' record in the new season difficult to predict. In the author's opinion, if the two of them can stay healthy after their comeback and gradually participate in the game, then the 76ers have a chance to win around 47 games and rank between 5th and 6th in the Eastern Conference. If the two continue to miss a large number of games in the new season, the 76ers' 25-26 season will be over again, and they will likely miss the playoffs again.