Every single person preoccupied with hoisting some early predictions for the league next season just got a huge reason to celebrate. With the release of the official schedule for all teams for the 2025-26 campaign, fans and pundits alike now have an actual backing to anchor their expectations on.
But unlike most teams, the Philadelphia 76ers are a tad more unique in that their season outlook does not really depend largely on what the schedule gods feed them. More than any other ball club, injuries will define their output, and in that respect, they are already operating under a handicap given the untimely injuries to both Joel Embiid and Paul George.
Embiid and George are both widely believed to miss the early part of the season given the rather nebulous outlooks of their respective injuries, but the league seems to have taken inadvertent notice of this critical fact when plotting the schedule. Put simply, the 76ers will have it relatively easy to start their campaign off unlike in past years.
Sure, Philly drew the short end of the stick when the league decided it would be prudent to give the most injury-riddled team the most back-to-back sets in the league, but the team likewise benefited in a huge way given their slate to start the season.
The 76ers will have an easy schedule to begin the 2025-26 season
Before the NBA Cup even begins on the 9th of December, the 76ers will have a total of nine outings against teams which missed the playoffs last season. That does not even factor in their troika of meetings with their bitter rivals, the Boston Celtics which, while still expected to be competitive in the grand scheme of things, will not have the services of their best player due to injury.
Heck, until the calendar flips to 2026, the 76ers do not have any road trip slate which has them going away from Philly for more than three games. That will give them a bit of an edge when it comes to rest management.
This favorable start to the season tones down the fact that the 76ers will be weary than most teams on an intermittent basis due to their sheer number of back-to-backs. But more importantly, this will afford the team with some margin of error given that they have a stronger chance now to mount a palatable record while they await the recovery of their best players.
The Philadelphia 76ers cannot just waste this “opportunity” next season, lest they jeopardize their chances at a huge comeuppance.