It was another disappointing season for the 76ers in the end. During the regular season, they secured home court advantage mostly due to a MVP season from Joel Embiid. They were a top 10 team on both ends of the floor, so they looked to be a complete team.
In the playoffs, they had a 3-1 lead in their second round series against Boston and they were even winning going for the 4th quarter in the pivotal Game 6, just to be outscored by 13-24 in that quarter. James Harden had another one of those nights by shooting 4-16 FG while committing 5 turnovers. Then, in Game 7, Philadelphia never had a chance to compete against a red hot Jayson Tatum.
2023/24 OUTLOOK:
So far, the new season has been dominated by the James Harden soap opera, as he has been trying everything to be traded with his trade value going down every day. Philadelphia signed Patrick Beverley for the backcourt and we can assume that if the Sixers end up trading Haden, they should also get a player to replace him.
The Sixers maintained their main core from last season, so we can expect them to be a decent defensive team once again. Tyrese Maxey had a breakout season last year and eventually, he will be the team’s main guard. Last season, lineups with Maxey and Embiid (without Harden) did exceptionally well: +12.0 net/rating on 930 possessions, so the Sixers should remain a very competitive team this season, even without Harden.
However, with both Boston and Milwaukee improving their rosters in the offseason, Philadelphia needed to have done something to improve their roster as well but for now that has not happened.
