Jared McCain’s rookie season ended in mid-December of last year, but he still managed to play more minutes (592) than Joel Embiid did (574) for the 2024-25 Philadelphia 76ers. The same is true of reserves Jeff Dowtin Jr. (621), who was on a two-way contract and also played 17 games for the Sixers’ G League team; Kyle Lowry (659), who barely played for the final three months; and Jared Butler (682), who joined the team at the trade deadline.
In all, 15 players logged more minutes than Embiid did for last season’s Sixers. The guy who played the fifth-most minutes, Ricky Council IV, is not currently on an NBA roster. (The Brooklyn Nets were reportedly going to bring him to camp if not for an injury.) Paul George missed half the games, too, and, by the end of the regular season, they were in full tank mode, trying to hang on to their top-six-protected pick. For a franchise that had invested about $400 million in Embiid and George the previous summer, it was an absolute nightmare.
Good news, though: 2024-25 is over. The late tank worked, and, if you’re a Sixers fan who hasn’t already purchased a V.J. Edgecombe jersey, you’ve likely at least considered it. McCain will miss the start of the season because of a thumb injury, and neither George nor Embiid has played in the preseason, but, in theory, Philly will soon get a proper look at the team it has put together. The hope is that the ceiling is just as high as the Sixers envisioned when they’re at full health and that the floor is nowhere near as low as it was last season.
The State of Play
Last year: Just about everything that could do wrong did go wrong until the night of the lottery. The miserable, 24-win season did have some silver linings, though: Tyrese Maxey improved his point-of-attack defense, McCain looked like the Rookie of the Year during the brief period in which he was healthy and Quentin Grimes, acquired for Caleb Martin at the deadline, played like the guy the Knicks didn’t want to trade for Donovan Mitchell four years ago. Guerschon Yabusele becoming a fan favorite and Justin…
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