3 Philadelphia 76ers Stars See Notable Drop in NBA Player Rankings

Back in the summer, the Philadelphia 76ers were praised for putting together a new big three in the NBA, adding the nine-time All-Star Paul George to the combination of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

In October, The Ringer put together its Top 100 NBA Players list right before opening night. At the time, Joel Embiid was considered a top-five player, ranking fifth overall.

Tyrese Maxey was 28th, while Paul George was slightly ahead of him at 23rd.

Fast forward to early December, and each of the 76ers’ star trio has seen a drop on the list. That doesn’t come as a surprise, considering the Sixers’ 2024-2025 campaign hasn’t gone as planned.

Embiid has dropped just outside of the Top 20. Sitting at 22, the big man is struggling to stay on the floor consistently this season. On a bright note, the publication noted that “the only direction Embiid can go from here is up.”

Although knee swelling has been bothering the former MVP throughout the year, he hasn’t taken a significant step back, which is something that Philadelphia fans feared.

When healthy, Embiid is still dominant. Prior to a seven-game absence, Embiid scored 35 points in 35 minutes against the Memphis Grizzlies. While leading the Sixers in scoring in the loss, he made it a double-double night with 11 rebounds.

Embiid returned to the court to take on the Chicago Bulls this past Sunday. In 32 minutes, he scored 31 points while coming down with 12 rebounds in the eight-point victory. Finding consistency might be hard for Embiid this season, and that has surely caused his ranking to take a hit.

Embiid had an INSTANT impact in his return!

🔥 31 PTS
🔥 12 REB
🔥 4 AST
🔥 2 BLK pic.twitter.com/LwRnU9WIAd
— NBA (@NBA) December 8, 2024

Paul George is another player dealing with setbacks throughout the year. After suffering a knee injury during the preseason, George’s Sixers debut was put on hold for the first five games of the year. He returned to action, playing in eight of the next nine games, but went out for a three-game absence after suffering a similar knee injury again.

George is healthy and back on the floor for the Sixers, but his decrease in production compared to his Clippers tenure is hard to miss. After scoring 23 points per game on 41 percent shooting from three last season, George is averaging 16 points on 31 percent shooting from deep this year. The Ringer dropped George from 23 to 37.

Paul George is smooth with it after practice today #Sixers pic.twitter.com/4pdt8UWk1l
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) December 12, 2024

As for Maxey, he’s seen the slightest dip. After starting the year off at 28, Maxey improved four spots within his first month. At this point, he’s considered No. 25.

Moving parts around him made it difficult for the one-time All-Star to find his own rhythm. While Maxey is starting to get settled once again as the Sixers get healthier, it’s difficult to miss his dip in shooting accuracy. Over the last three seasons, Maxey has shot threes at a 40 percent clip. This year, he’s made just 29 percent of his shots from deep.

At 7-15, the Sixers are slowly climbing their way back into contention within the Eastern Conference. While the key players started the year off with a regression, there is plenty of time for them to shift gears for the better.