The Philadelphia 76ers will be the focus of many eyes next season. Despite the growing strength of the Eastern Conference across the board, the team managed to stand out and separate itself from other young prospects thanks to the huge waves it made in the offseason.
After a masterpiece of star acquisition by Daryl Morey, who nabbed Paul George on the open market, management followed suit and made a series of subtle but clever moves designed to ensure the team remains near, if not at, the top of the East come the upcoming 2024-25 season.
Although an improvement in the table is expected, some do not seem to be too convinced that the team will achieve a significant improvement.
Following the release of the 2024-25 regular season schedule, Bleacher Report, written by Andy Bailey, released its usual win-loss projections for each team. However, it only predicts a modest improvement for Philadelphia in the standings.
Bailey set the magic number for the 76ers at 52 wins next season, largely because there was no real jump in the win-loss record (they won 47 games in the 2023-24 season) because Joel Embiid and George are injury-prone tail-enders, especially considering their age.
It’s common to hedge against overestimation when making early-season predictions, but the 76ers have all the makings of a team that should be eyeing 56 wins or more. Even factoring in the games Embiid and George will inevitably miss due to injury or load management, the club is now much better equipped to handle the absence of a star or two.
Maybe it plays a role that the East has a much bigger team than before, but the 76ers are head and shoulders above most of their competitors in the conference. As long as their stars stay relatively healthy, there are far too many brilliant players in both directions on this roster to predict just a five-win jump. Hopefully 52 wins will be considered a pure baseline for next season.
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