The Philadelphia 76ers 2025-2026 regular season has come to an end and they’re right where I predicted them to be, the middle class of the NBA. The 76ers were the most middle of the road team in the NBA this season.
Still, this team brought us some memorable moments throughout the season. V.J. Edgecombe scored the most points by a 76er in their NBA debut, setting the tone against Boston on opening night.
Maxey’s game took a leap, as he averaged career highs in points per game, field goals attempted and made, assists and minutes.
Maxey proved that he can be the Sixers new number one option going forward, with an aging Paul George and often injured Joel Embiid. I apologize and regret ever entertaining the idea that the team should consider trading Maxey for picks and for ever saying Maxey would regress. I was wrong, he’s only getting better.
A glaring reoccurring issue with this team and why they can’t seem to breakthrough, are the injuries. Paul George had some notable performances this season, including his recent 39 point outburst against Washington. Still Paul George only played in 37 games this season due to a knee injury that sidelined him in the beginning of the season and a 25 game suspension for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy.
Along with George, Embiid suited up for a nice 38 games during the 2025-2026 season. As per usual, Embiid was recovering from injuries to start the season, missed time due to his knee and oblique injuries and right with the playoffs starting, he suffers from appendicitis. At this point you could make Embiid into an operation game board.
Losing two of your stars for a combined 89 games over the course of a regular season isn’t the end of the world as we witnessed a playoff berth. But it’s not ideal and the reason why it feels that the window for a championship may just be closing soon.
It feels like the time is never right for the Philadelphia 76ers.
The 76ers were just 11-10 with the trio, showing that in order for them to be successful and have chemistry on the court, they’re going to need to play together more often, hard to do when one or the other is consistently hurt.
The Maxey-Edgecombe duo looks promising for the future of the Sixers. I don’t believe that Edgecombe will end up like Michael Carter-Williams and flame out after an impressive rookie season. Adem Bona was also a bright spot filling in. If this is it for Kyle Lowry, I’m glad he gets to ride off into the sunset in his hometown. I will still hold onto the fact that trading Jared McCain was a mistake that Daryl Morey must atone for. When Maxey went down late in the season, the entire city felt the foolishness of Morey’s decision.
Speaking more about Morey’s bad decisions, in my season preview I mentioned that he wasn’t a fit for this offense. For the 2025-2026 season, Grimes had a plus/minus of +8 and McCain’s was +61 in his time with the Sixers this year. One gets a contract, the other gets traded for a bag of balls.
Philadelphia is facing a tough battle in the first round against the number two seed Boston Celtics. We all heard the “We want Boston” chants. To be honest, I wish it was a younger team like Detroit, but then again, they’d still dominate the first round.
A miracle would be necessary to bring us Sixers basketball in June.
I’d say I’m looking forward to just focusing on the Phillies, but I’m already depressed enough and I fully expect A.J. Brown to be a New England Patriot in the Summer. Maybe LeBron James wants to come to Philadelphia and play here for potentially his final season, just kidding Morey, please do not sign another aging veteran star.
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