Philadelphia 76ers: Predicting NBA 2K19 ratings for every Sixers player

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How will the Philadelphia 76ers stack up in NBA 2K this season?

We’ve reached that time of year. The offseason is entering a lull, but NBA 2K19 is on the horizon. We’ve already seem some preliminary ratings — ratings that some Philadelphia 76ers fans might not be thrilled with.

Ben Simmons, who will grace the cover in Australia, scored an 87 overall. That’s tied with Donovan Mitchell and Jayson Tatum, neither of whom are as good at basketball as him. We won’t dive into that debate for now, though.

Aside from Simmons, we don’t know the rating for any other Sixers at this point. Excluding LeBron James‘ 98, Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard are the highest-ranked players to date at 94. Karl-Anthony Towns is a 91, Paul George is an 89, and DeMarcus Cousins is a 90.

We’ll dive into every Sixers player, examining their production last season, their potential for growth this season, and how that affects (or should affect) their upcoming rating. We’ll also give a general number for each player.

For the most part, fans should expect steady improvement over last season. Robert Covington had another strong year, especially on defense, while J.J. Redick and Dario Saric both put together career-highs in scoring. Joel Embiid has obviously improved his standing.

Zhaire Smith was selected toward the middle of the first-round, which is always tough to peg in 2K. He’s raw offensively, but should have the athleticism and defensive prowess needed to make an immediate impact.

For our purposes, we’ll keep Simmons out of it since his rating is already public. Not exactly something to predict anymore, even if that rating feels a tad low.