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Sixers ranked No. 18 in league power rankings after offseason moves

Sixers ranked No. 18 in league power rankings after offseason moves

USA Today4 days ago
The Philadelphia 76ers had a quiet offseason following the big free agency bonanza of 2024 when they won the Paul George sweepstakes. With a focus on getting younger and winning around the margins, the Sixers made a handful of minor moves in order to prepare themselves for another run at the title in the 2025-26 season.
Anything the Sixers do in the coming season will depend on the health of Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey. While the additions of VJ Edgecombe, Trendon Watford, Jabari Walker, and Dominick Barlow will help on the floor, those three aforementioned stars will need to lead the way and be on the floor for Philadelphia to have a chance to do anything in the Eastern Conference.
ESPN put out their latest power rankings with the Sixers coming in ranked No. 18 in the league after the offseason moves:
The 76ers have done some nice things on the margins, including landing Jabari Walker on a two-way deal and snagging VJ Edgecombe and Johni Broome in last month's NBA draft. As usual, though, the biggest news of the offseason was injury-related: Paul George underwent a knee procedure that will be reevaluated before the start of training camp in September and Joel Embiid declared there is no timeline for his return.
The Sixers are one big question mark heading into the new season. Of course, the talent is there. However, will it be on the floor? While Watford and the new additions will play a role, the Sixers will need to make sure their stars are healthy and ready to roll. If not? Then there is no shot for Philadelphia to make a move up the ladder in the East.
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Former Sixers big man Dwight Howard ranked No. 63 on all-time list
Former Sixers big man Dwight Howard ranked No. 63 on all-time list

USA Today

time15 minutes ago

  • USA Today

Former Sixers big man Dwight Howard ranked No. 63 on all-time list

For one season in his Hall of Fame career, Dwight Howard was a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. The 8-time All-Star served as the backup to Joel Embiid in the 2020-21 season and helped the Sixers earn the No. 1 seed in the East before falling to the Atlanta Hawks in the East semifinals. In his one season in Philadelphia, Howard averaged 7.0 points and 8.4 rebounds and nearly a block a game coming off the bench. He fully embraced his role as the team's backup center and was a positive player in the locker room day in and day out. He wasn't the dominant superstar he once was in his heyday, but Howard was certainly capable of producing. HoopsHype put together a ranking of the top 79 players in the history of the game with Howard was ranked No. 63 on the list: At one time, Dwight Howard was the best big man in the NBA, an era that lasted for multiple seasons during his time with the Magic. Howard was an awe-inspiring athlete for his size, who would often sky for rebounds, block shots or finish alley-oops. Like Gasol, Howard was another glaring omission from the NBA75 list despite being a Top 11 rebounder ever, ranking 15th all-time in blocks and having three Defensive Player of the Year awards. But that might have to do with him not being that well-liked by coaches and teammates during his time in the league. Howard was also a huge playoff performer, coming up big both when he was a star with the Magic (he impressively led them to the Finals in 2008-09) and as a role player with the Lakers, finally winning a title in 2019-20. Howard's one season with the Sixers wasn't particularly memorable, but it's clear that his impact on the game's history has been recognized. He is one of the best centers in NBA history and he should receive the respect he deserves as such.

How the Eagles are preparing Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean for graduate-level roles
How the Eagles are preparing Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean for graduate-level roles

New York Times

timean hour ago

  • New York Times

How the Eagles are preparing Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean for graduate-level roles

PHILADELPHIA — The sideline offered a sight line for how the Eagles' overhaul of their secondary may work out. Quinyon Mitchell was airborne. Tanner McKee may not have seen him. Too late. Mitchell snagged McKee's tight spiral for his second interception of training camp. It was fine timing. Minutes before, the NFL's social media team announced that the league's players voted Mitchell No. 49 in this year's top-100 player rankings. Chasing Mitchell down to celebrate the play: Cooper DeJean, voted No. 60. Advertisement The pairing is unprecedented in the Howie Roseman era. None of the general manager's other back-to-back draft picks had ever secured such immediate stature after such consequential rookie seasons. Mitchell and DeJean reinforced a veteran-laden secondary in 2024 that was in dire need of schematic repairs. They have now advanced from features to footholds. If the Eagles are to again field a premier passing defense as their roster is currently constructed, Mitchell and DeJean may have to flourish in the graduate-level roles their coaches are preparing them to fulfill. The roles, particularly Mitchell's, are designed to mitigate potential shortfalls at cornerback and safety. The Eagles decided young and cost-effective players would replace Darius Slay and C.J. Gardner-Johnson. They also decided the ones they believed would replace Slay needed a nudge. They traded defensive tackle Thomas Booker to the Raiders to acquire Jakorian Bennett, a 24-year-old cornerback who played through multiple shoulder dislocations in a 2024 season that ended with a torn labrum. The deal is pending a physical, according to a league source. The position battle between Kelee Ringo and Adoree' Jackson has stagnated. Ringo's inconsistency so far in training camp is foreboding. 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Fangio said Mitchell, as a rookie, wouldn't have caught the interception he snagged last week while covering Brown. Christian Parker, the team's defensive passing game coordinator, said Mitchell already had a 'natural instinct to go toe-to-toe with anybody.' Parker is now seeing progress in Mitchell's processing. He's seeing Mitchell sniff out pre-snap splits, formations and situations to eliminate more plays and routes before they even happen. When asked if Mitchell can be one of the great cornerbacks, Parker quickly answered: 'Yes.' 'I've been around a lot of really good ones and I think that it starts with just how they're built and he's built the right way,' Parker continued. 'He has a natural confidence in himself. He doesn't get rattled. He's always trying to work. So there's very little idle time during practice. When it's special teams, we're working. When the offense is on the field during the scout team period, we're working. Pre-practice, we're working. 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That limits the strategy to teams with a more stagnant pre-snap approach. The Eagles will play six of the 10 teams that used pre-snap motion the most in 2024, according to TruMedia. Among them are teams with distinctly dangerous receiving corps: the Lions and Rams. There is a captivating quality about watching a cornerback and wide receiver wage war play after play. It's akin to watching the court clear for a competitive one-on-one matchup in basketball. But the Eagles don't have to think back too far to remember that traveling a cornerback signals a deficiency more than it does a strength. Slay shadowed top receivers toward the end of the 2023 season under former defensive coordinator Sean Desai, when the Eagles surrendered the league's third-most passes of 15-plus yards, according to TruMedia. The Eagles surrendered the fewest in 2024. Due to the collective reliability of Slay and Mitchell, both cornerbacks spent the entirety of the season on their own side of the field. 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It's a significant setback for Mukuba. Fangio, who was also fielding Mukuba in dime packages, emphasized how there's no substitute for physical reps. Mukuba returned to the field Friday in a limited capacity, but has only participated in individual drills. Advertisement 'I feel good about it,' Mukuba said Sunday. 'I feel like all the meetings, the walkthroughs — we meet more times than we're on the field. So, I feel like that helps a lot knowing that I'm spending more time in the film room, trying to improve, trying to ask all the questions I can ask, trying to lean on the older guys for anything I need help on.' Mukuba laughingly said he 'won't shut up around' starting safety Reed Blankenship. The fourth-year starter is the source of the majority of Mukuba's questions. Blankenship obliges. So does Brown, who sits next to Mukuba in meetings. But Brown, a 2023 third-round pick, is entering the third week of his first training camp learning Fangio's system after spending the majority of the 2024 season recovering from a torn ACL. Brown played just 79 defensive snaps in 2024; he played 335 snaps in 2023. He started in six games as a rookie, played some nickel, and recorded a 99-yard pick-six against the Arizona Cardinals a week before suffering his season-ending injury in the regular-season finale. Fangio said he believes Brown has taken 'overall' strides with his 'entire game.' Brown still must 'recognize things a little quicker,' Fangio said, and just 'put some polish on his operation.' Brown is still adjusting to truly playing in the post as a deep safety. He played more than half of his career defensive snaps at Illinois in the box, according to Pro Football Focus. He played close to a third of his snaps as a rookie at free safety. Parker said Brown is still 'learning how to play' while diagnosing progressions from a longer range. 'He's done a really good job of just slowing his brain down,' Parker said. 'You can see it with his footwork. He's slower with his feet. He's more decisive when he has to go. And it's not like a lot of second-change directions that we're having him make. So, he's making a lot of progress in that area.' Fangio and Parker have spoken with a higher degree of confidence when referencing DeJean, who has been replacing Brown in base packages during training camp. The DeJean Experiment is going well, according to Fangio. The seven-time defensive coordinator said in OTAs he'd be testing DeJean out at cornerback and safety in base packages in an effort to keep DeJean, their starting nickel, on the field at all times. (The Eagles played nickel on 81.2 percent of their 2024 snaps, per TruMedia.) DeJean has only played safety in training camp. Parker said the Eagles still plan on playing DeJean at cornerback, but 'he's starting to kind of get his legs under him at safety.' A recent play in practice signaled DeJean may already have his safety legs under him. Fangio said DeJean picked up a route that the Eagles had struggled against last year, 'like he'd been a safety his whole life.' 'So yeah,' the ever-blunt Fangio said. 'He'll be a good safety if we ever want, if we need him there.' Advertisement DeJean, a former outside cornerback at Iowa, has often cited how he began studying cornerback, nickel and safety when the Eagles first drafted him because he knew there was a possibility he'd play any of them. The defense's lack of depth at nickel required him to play there in 2024. If the cornerback battle doesn't yield a reliable starter in 2025, perhaps he can play there. (That would require a replacement at nickel: second-team nickel Mac McWilliams is managing a quad injury.) So far, the Eagles are pleased with DeJean's performance at safety. Parker said DeJean's experience at nickel affords him the added knowledge of knowing where his help in coverage is and where it isn't. DeJean wasn't challenged in the passing game in any of his eight base snaps in Monday's practice, but after each series, he stood next to Parker on the sideline and reviewed his play. DeJean said Parker holds him accountable. They've become close since last season. During a break in a practice last week, the two playfully shadowboxed along the sideline. 'He's been a great coach and a great person to get to know for me,' DeJean said. 'Just by things he sees on the film, if I'm not doing things technically right, he's gonna let me know. And he's always coaching no matter what. So just hold me accountable in the way I play. And he knows how I play. And if I'm not to that standard, he's gonna let me know.' The team's dependence on DeJean may run even deeper. At the beginning of Monday's practice, DeJean held a field goal for Jake Elliott during an 11-on-11 special teams drill. 'Emergency,' DeJean grinned later. 'If they need it.' Playful, perhaps. Braden Mann kicked a field goal afterward. By then, DeJean was jogging toward the sideline, where Mitchell was waiting for him.

Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles play in game 2 of series
Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles play in game 2 of series

Yahoo

time4 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles play in game 2 of series

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