Against all odds, the Philadelphia 76ers opted to stay put last night, using their 16th overall pick to select guard Jared McCain out of Duke University. The move runs counter to what many expected from the team with the front office having done more than just due diligence scouring the market for potentially available trade targets for their first-round pick.
The 76ers still have a ways to go, and evidently so, as free agency hasn’t even officially started yet. Anyway, let’s fast track everything for now, and predict what the team’s starting lineup could look like for the 2024-25 season.
76ers starting center: Joel Embiid
2023-24 Stats: 34.7 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 5.6 APG, 1.7 BPG
Duh.
Anyway, health permitting, Joel Embiid should resume his foray into the MVP race next season. He was the clear frontrunner for the award last season before his knee injury, which cost him a ton of games, forced him to become disqualified for a back-to-back finish.
Embiid should continue leading the 76ers in scoring in the following campaign. Not only is he the best individual scorer in the entire association, but absolutely no one in the league is also capable of defending him one-on-one. His much-improved passing and overall playmaking have also become staples in Nick Nurse’s more dynamic offense.
Still, the front office should make it an emphasis to double down on depth behind Embiid. The combination of Mo Bamba and Paul Reed was a near-disaster, and the 76ers cannot afford to put too much load on the superstar and not having a tenable insurance for him.