It was not a banner year for the Sixers and these rankings reflect that reality.
Law Murray of The Athletic published the site’s annual NBA Player Tiers column, their spin on a league-wide ranking of the top players within The Association. As you might expect for a team that finished with the fifth-worst record in the league, these rankings are not littered with a multitude of Philadelphia 76ers. In fact, only three Sixers are mentioned among the group of top-125 players. Let’s take a look at where they reside.
Tier 2E: Joel Embiid (Players 29-30 along with Kyrie Irving)
“This is a special sub-tier, but it’s clearly not the sub-tier you want to be in.
Joel Embiid was the MVP two years ago and was wasting the NBA for close to 35 points per game last season. But including the postseason, Embiid has played in only 30 games since February 2024. As a big man on the other side of 30, he has looked like a shell of himself. Embiid has undergone arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. He is still a center with elite skill. But he had only five dunks in 574 minutes this season, and he wasn’t the same as a rim protector. Even if he returns to form, he shoots 45.9 from the field in his postseason career and has 36 more turnovers than assists in the playoffs.”
Honestly, I’m not the least bit upset about this ranking. There’s a distinct possibility that Embiid’s knee doesn’t improve and next spring we’re talking about his being the worst contract in the league. Even if he does return, I think it’s safe to say that his days of being a top-5 guy over the course of an entire season are over. As much as I hate to say it, top-30 feels generous for the big man.
Tier 3A: Tyrese Maxey (Players 31-38)
“These players either are All-Stars, have been recent All-Stars or have approached play that could have made them All-Stars if not for ill-timed injuries or other factors.
All three point guards are former Kentucky Wildcats who have played with star big men and have shared a lot of ballhandling responsibilities. It wasn’t a banner year for De’Aaron Fox, who was traded to San Antonio in February. He also had to share lead guard duties with Chris Paul — and that was after sharing the ball with DeMar DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis and Malik Monk in Sacramento’s starting lineups. Fox is one of the best small guards at getting to the free-throw line, which offsets his troublesome 3-point shooting. Tyrese Maxey has the brightest outlook of the 76ers star players since he’s young and healthy. His efficiency took a major hit before Philadelphia shut him down, but Maxey is one of the NBA’s best guards at scoring at a high rate without being a turnover machine. Jamal Murray is dealing with hamstring issues entering the playoffs, and he is often criticized for not being named to an All-Star team yet despite being Nikola Jokić’s teammate. Murray may be a perennial snub, but he has still shown he can be an outstanding playoff riser capable of punishing teams in ball screens with Jokić.”
Again, no major arguments here. Maxey was on a top-20-ish trajectory heading into the season, then the entire Sixers organization got a hold of a cursed monkey’s paw. Tyrese dealt with injuries, including a sprained finger that he tried to play through despite having to try learning how to SHOOT WITH THREE FINGERS INSTEAD OF FIVE. So yeah, his shooting numbers were down, but I think more concerning, he didn’t progress as a lead initiator/distributor when pressed into that role. I’m fine with Maxey taking a step back in the NBA hierarchy until he has a normal year of progression again.
Tier 3C: Paul George: (Players 49-60)
“This is the most players I have in any sub-tier, and it’s full of guys who are stretched as No. 1 options but can be powerful depending on who they can play off.
…
At small forward, Deni Avdija has made it clear that he is a player who is at his best with the ball in his hands as opposed to playing off Jerami Grant and Deandre Ayton. Avdija averages north of five free-throw attempts per game at 6-9 and 240 pounds. Paul George’s scoring and paint presence have evaporated. He doesn’t take on the toughest defensive assignments anymore, and he has played in 60 games only once since leaving Oklahoma City in 2019. Despite the decline and situation in Philadelphia, George can still be a winning player because of his size/skill intersection, and he can still make plays on both ends while shooting the ball at a decent clip. Lauri Markkanen is another talented player in a situation so bad that it limits how much he plays and how much he can produce. Markkanen’s numbers are well off the All-Star form he showed two years ago, and he badly needs the Jazz to get him better guards as part of their rebuild. Amen Thompson feels high, as he’s a bad shooter who isn’t asked to lead Houston’s scoring. But he’s a force in every other aspect of the game to go with nuclear athleticism at 6-7.”
Paul George had about four weeks where he looked like the top-20 player that served as a best-case scenario with his free agent signing. Otherwise, he toggled between overpaid but effective role player, aging guy playing through injury, and someone who’s head wasn’t in it at all because the team’s season had gone in the wood chipper. I don’t know what you do with all that, but George is also turning 35 years old next month so around 50th overall seems perfectly fine.
Well, you can tell how pessimistic I am about this Philadelphia franchise at the moment because I couldn’t get worked up arguing for any of these guys to be higher. Earn back my trust so I can fight unimportant internet rankings, Sixers! What do you think about this list, readers? Let us know in the comments.