The 2025 NBA season has officially gone down as a nightmare for the Sixers, culminating in a 13th-place finish in the Eastern Conference with a dismal record of 24-58. The last time they failed to make the playoffs was 2017, and the abruptness of their fall has left fans, analysts, and the front office grasping for answers, and all eyes are on Joel Embiid.
This was a year that began with high hopes. Most major sportsbooks and betting platforms had the Sixers pegged as one of the top contenders in the East, boasting the third-best odds to win the NBA title before the season tipped off. But injuries piled up, form dipped, and players failed to deliver. The most glaring absence, of course, was that of Embiid—Philadelphia’s perennial MVP candidate and emotional leader.
Embiid played just 19 games throughout the entire regular season, which marks the lowest number of appearances in any season of his NBA career, even fewer than the 31 games he managed in 2017 when injuries were still a defining part of his early years. To put this into context, he featured in 39 games in 2024 and over 65 in both 2022 and 2023. The impact of his absence this year cannot be overstated. When he did take the floor, his output was muted.
Averaging just over 23 points per game, Embiid posted his lowest scoring average in the last three full seasons. His rebound numbers dipped, his field goal percentage fell, and the usual dominance that defined his presence simply wasn’t there. Embiid did not resemble the game-changing force he has so often been.
But it wasn’t just him, as injuries hit hard across the Sixers’ lineup. Tyrese Maxey, who was given a max deal as a restricted free agent last summer, missed a significant portion of the season. Paul George, the marquee free agency acquisition brought in with a max contract, also failed to stay healthy and, when available, rarely lived up to the weight of his hefty salary.
This roster, constructed with a win-now mentality, found itself patching holes with veteran names like Kyle Lowry, Eric Gordon, and Reggie Jackson—players who brought experience but were well past their prime. The reliance on aging veterans proved to be a critical misstep, and the physical limitations of that approach were exposed across a long and grueling season.
The fallout has been sharp. According to Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus, both Embiid and George now carry what is termed “negative trade value.” That means, based on contract size, injury history, and on-court performance, other teams would hesitate to trade valuable assets for them without additional incentives.
Pincus even described Embiid’s contract as potentially the most difficult to move in the entire NBA, given his recurring injury concerns and massive salary commitment. George isn’t faring much better. He’s heading into the second season of his deal, and his inability to perform consistently has raised serious doubts about the wisdom of that signing.
Still, the Sixers appear reluctant to blow it all up, at least not yet. Team President Daryl Morey has publicly reaffirmed his commitment to the current core, suggesting that barring an unforeseen development, Embiid, George, and Maxey will continue together into the 2025–2026 season. But there’s also a sense of realism seeping through.
Morey recently acknowledged, during a conversation on 97.5 The Fanatic, that the roster construction for this past season was flawed. He admitted to placing too much emphasis on veteran presence and not enough on youthful athleticism, a mistake that became glaringly obvious as injuries mounted and the team’s energy waned.
As the organization turns its focus to the future, Morey has vowed to reorient the roster around younger, more athletic players. Moving forward, the Sixers plan to prioritize players aged 25 and under. That means less reliance on grizzled vets and more on emerging young talent like Jared McCain, Justin Edwards, and Adem Bona.
The Sixers are also hoping for some good fortune in the upcoming NBA Draft Lottery. Their catastrophic season puts them in a position to potentially secure a top-six pick, another critical step in reshaping the roster. A successful pick could inject immediate energy and upside into a team clearly in need of a reset.
And yet, the noise surrounding Joel Embiid won’t go away. At 31 years old, the Cameroonian center is still seen as a player in his prime. His connection to the Sixers fan base remains strong, but speculation about his future is swirling. One of the most sensational rumors currently circulating links Embiid to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers, desperate for a dominant big man to fill their glaring void at center, are reportedly exploring the possibility of making a play for Embiid. While nothing has been confirmed, and the move sounds like something out of an NBA fantasy league, it’s being taken seriously in some circles.
The chatter suggests that the Lakers, hungry to build a final superteam alongside LeBron James and potentially Luka Dončić, could offer a package centered around expiring contracts, two first-round draft picks, and even rising star Austin Reaves. Embiid’s massive contract would make any deal complicated, but a potential salary restructuring isn’t out of the question if it means chasing another title in Los Angeles. For the Sixers, the idea of cutting bait on their franchise cornerstone would be painful, but with questions surrounding his durability and diminishing trade value, they might have to listen if a compelling offer comes through.
In the meantime, the team’s future hangs delicately between a desire to stay competitive with its star trio and the growing realization that a retooling—if not a rebuild—may be unavoidable. The 2024–2025 season was supposed to be the year the Sixers made their big leap. Instead, it’s become the catalyst for a massive internal reckoning. Fans, once dreaming of banner-raising glory, now find themselves hoping for lottery luck and young blood to breathe life into a sagging franchise.
