The Philadelphia 76ers have high hopes entering the 2025-26 season, but they are far from the only team looking to launch a comeuppance. Hence, even with the Eastern Conference being penciled in as a relatively easier race to crack, the team will still find it difficult to regain their footing following the kind of campaign they turned in last season.
To make matters worse, the 76ers will be starting the season off with a handicap. Two of their stars, Joel Embiid and Paul George, have a strong likelihood of missing the early part of the campaign due to their respective injuries, and recent signs suggest that they could be out for longer than expected.
Lack of chemistry and continuity doomed the squad last season, and there is little to suggest that they are well-geared to take on those drawbacks. The front office decided to bring back almost the same roster aside from some new additions through the draft and the waiver wire. Aside from that, to deem the team’s offseason as having yielded a makeover would be ridiculously disingenuous.
But perhaps the most concerning thing is the fact that Philadelphia has a very fatal weakness — one that is threatening them at this very moment but not talked about often.
Lack of depth could destroy the 76ers next season
To cut to the chase, the 76ers do not have the kind of depth to be able to absorb injuries to their best players. Last season, they were pegged early on as having one of the deeper rosters in the league, but their litany of injuries quickly depleted that, and the number of players who steeply declined definitely did not help.
Looking at their roster next season (even factoring in Quentin Grimes), the 76ers have a shallow roster. Their best players off the bench would be Justin Edwards and two of VJ Edgecombe, Jared McCain, and Quentin Grimes. Beyond those players, they will be parading below-average rotation fillers from washed veterans, NBA journeymen, and unproven commodities.
The most perilous spot is in the front court. George, who will likely miss some games to kick the season off, would be presumptively supplanted by Edwards. Assuming that Kelly Oubre starts, that would force the coaching staff to funnel a lot of minutes to Trendon Watford and Eric Gordon to compensate, which is a gamble early on.
Meanwhile, Embiid also has no viable backup. Andre Drummond is close to being finished, and Johni Broome and Dominick Barlow are both too raw to be consistent rotation cogs. Basically, the 76ers face a death sentence whenever the superstar is sidelined due to injury or is resting.
The Philadelphia 76ers still have some time to shore up their functional depth heading into next season. Otherwise, if they fail to do exactly that, they could see their chances slowly minimize into oblivion.