The hottest 76ers bold prediction for the 2025-26 NBA season

To call The Philadelphia 76ers’ 2024-25 season was an abject failure can only be an understatement.

Heading into opening night as the big winners of free agency, able to retain key players like Kelly Oubre Jr. and Andre Drummond as they add the biggest fish on the market, Paul George, on a four-year max contractThe 76ers suffered injury after injury during an 82-game season, limping to the finish line with a 24-58 record and massive questions about the future.

The offense, which was expected to be led by dominant ISO shooters with 3-and-D wings around them, became increasingly one-dimensional as Joel Embiid and George found himself on the season-ending injury report, with Tyrese Maxey increasingly unable to single-handedly keep the team in the playoffs. While the emergence of Quentin Grimes certainly helped lighten things up and get 76ers fans to watch games even if the results rarely went in their favor, in the end the season was pretty much a wash in the worst possible way.

Fast forward to the start of free agency, and the 76ers haven’t done much to really turn the needle in their favor. They chose VJ Edgecombe as the third runner-up, a decision that was popular at the time, even if some fans fell back in love with Ace Bailey after some strong preseasons. The 76ers have added some interesting young players like Johnny Broom in the second round, Trendon Watford and Jabari Walker in NBA free agency, and preseason surprise Dominique Barlow on a two-way deal, but even with a few young, fresh faces on the roster, can they really expect to become the kind of team that will regain their former glory?

As things stand right now, the 76ers aren’t exactly considered favorites to make the playoffs, even in the Eastern Conference. At best, some consider the team to be a wild card, the kind of club that could make waves if they hit everything right and shatter the bracket and dreams of opposing franchises.

And in the worst case? Well, the 76ers will be back in the lottery, where they will at least have their own pick unless they make a surprise trade between now and next summer and go in a different direction.

For fans who survived the process, watching the 76ers in 2025 might not be the most exciting pursuit, as it could end a decade-long pursuit of championship gold once and for all, but what if it doesn’t? What if the 76ers click the way they “were supposed to” last fall and hit the ground running in an Eastern Conference where both the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers are expected to have down years after playoff injuries to their best players? Could they get back to the playoffs, break into the Eastern Conference, or even break through that ceiling and finally give Embiid a chance to represent the East in the NBA Finals? Sincerely, maybe it’s not as hot as you think.

The 76ers finally enter the Eastern Conference Finals with Joel Embiid

When the 2026 NBA playoffs come around, there is a very real possibility that the Pacers and Celtics, the last two teams to represent the division in the NBA Finals, will not be represented when the number is reduced to eight, with those two teams potentially fighting for play-in spots against Tyrison Haliburtoum and the Jays.

The Cleveland Cavaliers still look good after coming close to the NBA Finals last season. The New York Knicks are also considered the favorite to lead the division after getting quality players last year, even if they just changed their head coach, and the Orlando Magic and Milwaukee Bucks also have to be in the conversation after bringing Desmond Bain and Myles Turner to town, but who really sits behind that front four? There are the Atlanta Hawks, the Detroit Pistons and a lot of question marks at the bottom of the conference.

The 76ers, by contrast, return the same team that looked really good on paper last season before the start of the regular season, plus Jared McCain, who exploded about a month before suffering a season-ending injury, Grimes, who exploded in the final month of the season, and VJ Edgecombe, who has filled in since being drafted by the Z76ers. in 2018

With a deep frontcourt and the ability to mix around guards like Maxey, McCain, Grimes and Edgecomb in multiple spots this fall, the 76ers should be able to easily challenge opposing teams and should play less selfish basketball this fall, which Nick Nurseson pointed out during prep.

Of course, will the loss of Gersauun Yabusele hurt the 76ers’ playoff run? Potentially so, but he spent most of last season playing small center and barely showed if he could hang with Embiid as a full-time power forward. While Barlow was a fun addition during the preseason, his addition, plus Broome, Watford and Walker, should give the 76ers plenty of options at the forward position, especially when Sister tries to look from two towers with Embiid on the four to allow Adem Bony to do the dirty work in the paint.

Throw it all together, and the 76ers might just be a top-3 team in the East when all is said and done, with a chance to make some serious waves in the postseason when all is said and done.

After all, the 76ers aren’t as bad a team as they looked in 2024-25. They’ve been unlucky with injuries in a way that essentially no other team has been able to sustain, as the Pacers and Celtics would soon learn, and as a result, they’ve been overlooked despite their typical pedigree. If the 76ers can stay healthy, they will undoubtedly be a better team this season than they were expected to be last year, with the contracts and assets needed to make a midseason move and get even better before the playoffs. Considering the field in 2026, this might just be the year Embiid breaks through his glass ceiling and reaches the Eastern Conference Finals, with a chance at the NBA Finals depending on the draw.