Top 3 priorities for Sixers to take care of in upcoming offseason

USA Today

09-05-2025

Top 3 priorities for Sixers to take care of in upcoming offseason
The Philadelphia 76ers will head into an important offseason looking to bounce back from a disastrous 2024-25 season. Expected to be one of the top contenders after winning the offseason with the big addition of Paul George, and a slew of others, the Sixers instead finished 24-58 in what was a miserable season.
President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey handed coach Nick Nurse a talented roster, but unfortunately, everything that could go wrong did. The Sixers were unable to see what their star trio of George, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey could do as they were all limited by injuries. It then trickled down the roster as Philadelphia missed a ton of pieces.
As Morey and Co. head into the offseason, here are the three things they should be prioritizing in the summer of 2025:
The health of the three stars
Everything the Sixers do will revolve around Embiid, George, and Maxey. Whether one likes it or not, Morey confirmed on "The Mike Missanelli Show" on 97.5 The Fanatic that the Sixers are committed to those three. It makes sense when considering the contracts that each player is on in order to maintain their core group of players. The Sixers never got a chance to see what they can do in 2024-25 as Embiid was limited to just 19 games. The trio played only 18 games together and they only finished 15 of them--Philadelphia went 7-8 in those 15 games. As the Sixers move forward, getting those three healthy is the top priority to get back to contention in 2025-26.
Retaining Guerschon Yabusele and Quentin Grimes
This is where things get tricky for the Sixers. After the big spending spree in 2024, the Sixers don't have much money to spend in 2025. Bringing back productive players Yabusele and Grimes has to be near the top of the to-do list for Morey, but does he have the resources? Philadelphia saved money (about $8 million) by sending Caleb Martin to Dallas in the Grimes deal. That should allow them to use the full $14.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception to bring back Yabusele. However, that would cut into how much money they can give Grimes. Now, because Grimes is a restricted free agent, they can go over the cap to re-sign him, but if the Sixers go over $5.6 million to re-sign Yabusele, then the first apron comes into play and it would not allow them to re-sign Grimes. A trade would have to be made to clear out some salary.
The draft
Of course, this one is out of Philadelphia's hands a bit. The pick the Sixers have is only top 6 protected so the lottery on May 12 will decide whether they pick that pick or if it conveys to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of the 2020 Al Horford deal. If Philadelphia gets lottery luck and keeps the pick, then it has to nail it. One has to believe the Sixers can get an impactful player in the draft should they keep the pick and add a young player to a roster in need of an injection of youth.