In years past, projecting the Philadelphia 76ers' ceiling has been somewhat of an easy task. Despite Philadelphia's revolving door of co-stars who’ve aided Joel Embiid, it has always been slotted in as a championship contender to some degree. However, the 2025-26 season is a different story. From the national media to a random guy taking the Broad St. Line, no one knows who the 76ers truly are, and ESPN confirmed this.
Are the 76ers the biggest wildcard in the NBA?
ESPN analyst Chiney Ogwumike appeared on the ESPN program “NBA Today” yesterday where she discussed Philadelphia at length. Ogwumike shared her genuine thoughts on the 76ers’ contention hopes during a segment in which ESPN prompted the question “Are the 76ers the biggest wild card among all teams this upcoming season?”.
“If Embiid's healthy, this is a guy that's an MVP,” Ogwumike said. “This is a guy who can pace the NBA at the top three to five in scoring. This is a guy who could also win DPOY. [The 76ers] also have Paul George, who's a certified 20-plus bucket, who we need to see consistently as well. They have Tyrese Maxey, who has been dubbed ‘The Franchise’ by Joel Embiid, and people sleep on Jared McCain. They have a lot of strong players. But, if I am a betting woman would I bet on them? Absolutely not, because we have yet to see it all come together.”
Chiney is absoletely right
There are often times when the national media attempts to discuss a team and its analysis is unbelievably wrong and/or half-baked. Unfortunately, this isn’t one of those times. Ogwumike hit it right on the nose and echoed the sentiments 76ers fans have preached for months. Philadelphia is one of, if not the only team, that could finish with a top-three seed in the Eastern Conference or miss the postseason for a second consecutive year.
As Ogwumike said, it all comes down to whether the 76ers can stay healthy, and if so, can they develop proper chemistry. During the 15 games Embiid, Maxey, and George played together, Philadelphia’s offense looked wonky, which was expected considering the circumstances. There was never any point during the 2024-25 season where you could confidently say this big three can legitimately work.
Once again, it all comes down to health and based on the way things are shaping up, the 76ers may have to wait a little while longer to click. Philadelphia is yet to release an official update on Embiid, who underwent an arthroscopic procedure in April. While Daryl Morey’s briefs have been optimistic, there’s still no telling when Embiid will return, nor how impactful he’ll be.
George also went through an arthroscopic operation in July and is set to be re-evaluated around the start of training camp in September. Although George will undergo a re-evaluation, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll return for training camp. With all of this being said, Philadelphia has the star-power and all-around talent to make noise in the East. But, it needs time to gel, which may already be in short supply.