1 Reason Why Philadelphia 76ers Avoided Failing Grade

As soon as the NBA All-Star break arrived, The Athletic graded out each team’s progress through the first critical stretch of the season. The Philadelphia 76ers weren’t expecting to ace any tests right now.

In fact, many might see Philly’s progress thus far as a failure. While the All-Star break grades handed out by the publication certainly aren’t great for the Sixers, they didn’t fail.

With a “D”, the Sixers avoided the failing grade for one reason: the emergence of the youth.

“The continued star-level rise of Tyrese Maxey and the emergence of young players such as Justin Edwards and Jared McCain save this grade from being an F,” The Athletic’s Tony Jones wrote. “Make no mistake, however: This is an F-level season from the Sixers.”

There are fair points on both sides.

Tyrese Maxey might not have looked like the best version of himself at the start of the year, which disappointed many, considering he just signed a max contract over the summer.

With injuries to star players in play, Maxey had to quickly adjust to being the number one guy on the court, drawing all of the attention. He got his numbers but was shooting inefficiently and turning the ball over at a higher rate than usual.

Eventually, Maxey settled in and started playing some of the best basketball of his career. Any doubt about him being a max player before has been erased, even if he missed the All-Star game.

Beyond Maxey, the Sixers seemingly struck gold with two members of the 2024 rookie class. The first-round pick Jared McCain had a short-lived season due to a knee injury, but he was the clear frontrunner for the Rookie of the Year award before going down.

Justin Edwards might not have been drafted, but he’s been promoted from a two-way contract to a standard deal. The days of being a Delaware Blue Coats regular have faded, as Edwards has recently earned a rotational role on the Sixers.

If the Sixers were in a rebuild, the grade would be much different in a positive way. Unfortunately for them, that’s not the case. Entering the 2024-2025 NBA season, the Sixers were expected to be competing for an NBA Championship.

Joel Embiid was fresh off of a gold medal win in France and expected to bring some of that championship-winning expertise back to the NBA. Paul George inked a max deal with the Sixers, giving the organization hope that he’s the final piece to their postseason struggles.

How’s that working out? The Sixers will return from the All-Star break with a 20-34 record. They are currently out of the Play-In picture, trailing the Chicago Bulls, who were sellers at the trade deadline.

Joel Embiid Paul Georg — Dec 8, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) and forward Paul George (8) defend against Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic (9) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Injuries have obviously played a big part in the Sixers’ struggles. Embiid and George have missed a combined 56 games this year. But even when they are on the floor, the Sixers aren’t seeing their best versions.

This year, Embiid’s scoring is down by roughly 10 points per game. He’s been on pace to shoot below his career average as well. While Embiid’s presence is still a major plus when he is available, he hasn’t been healthy enough to find consistency.

As for George, he’s averaging fewer than 20 points for the first time since his six-game run in Indiana in 2014-2015. After producing 23 points per game on 41 percent shooting from deep with the Los Angeles Clippers last season, George is putting up 16 points per game on 36 percent accuracy from three on the Sixers.

As long as the Sixers can reach the Play-In, they’ll have an opportunity to squeeze into the playoffs like they did a season ago and attempt to stun the Eastern Conference by putting it all together when they need to the most. For the time being, the Sixers are failing at their plan for the year.

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