Analysis of the Sixers’ roster and key questions yet to be answered now that the offseason dust has settled

Analysis of the Sixers’ roster and key questions that remain to be answered as the offseason calm returns originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers’ depth chart this past summer was littered with giant asterisks. James Harden remained on the team, P.J. Tucker was in line for an opening night start, and everything was subject to dramatic change.

A year later, the Sixers have 13 players under contract and a deal with Guerschon Yabusele. Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said in July that the team planned to enter the season with one roster spot below the 15-player maximum. There’s no reason to load a projection with caveats and contingencies.

With the first day of practice scheduled for October 1 in the Bahamas, let’s go over a preliminary depth chart and highlight some interesting questions about the 2024-25 Sixers:

Starters

Tyrese Maxey – Kelly Oubre Jr. — Paul George — Caleb Martin — Joel Embiid

Three holdovers here from the Sixers’ playoff starting unit last year in Maxey, Oubre and Embiid. While Sixers head coach Nick Nurse is fond of Kyle Lowry’s still-effective resistance to bigger players, Oubre, George and Martin certainly sound like a versatile trio on defense.

Bank protectors

Kyle Lowry — Eric Gordon — Reggie Jackson — Jared McCain — Jeff Dowtin Jr. (two-sided contract)

With Lowry, 38, Gordon, 35 and Jackson, 34, the Sixers have no shortage of experience at second-unit guard. Whatever his exact role, Lowry should be helpful in acclimating the new Sixers to Nurses’ system.

Bench Wings and Forwards

Guerschon Yabusele — Ricky Council IV — KJ Martin — Justin Edwards (two-way contract) — David Jones (two-way contract)

Yabusele, Council and Martin could well compete internally for rotation minutes during training camp and pre-season.

Bank big men

Andre Drummond — Adem Bona

A veteran hungry for rebounds and a rookie who can shoot well behind Embiid.

Where should the Sixers be strongest?

Basketball isn’t all about scoring, but we want to point out that Maxey, Embiid and George combined for 83.2 points per game in the 2023-24 season.

The Sixers have a ton of firepower and don’t have to worry too much about their best offensive players tripping over each other when they get to their favorite spots. And given the near-automatic double teams Embiid draws, George’s catch-and-shoot credentials should be pretty valuable. He made 43.5 percent of his 3.8 catch-and-shoot 3-point attempts per game last season.

Especially if Oubre maintains the defensive focus he brought to the team late last year, the Sixers’ primary wings and forwards appear to be players who will generally work hard on both ends of the court. As long as that’s the case, the Sixers shouldn’t need to make any radical overhauls to their defensive habits come playoff time.

Nurse emphasizes possession play, and the Sixers still appear capable of scoring well in several key areas. De’Anthony Melton and Paul Reed have moved on, but George has consistently been well above average at his position in steal rate, and Drummond is a historically excellent rebounder. That doesn’t guarantee the Sixers will once again be a top-five team in both offensive and defensive turnover percentage while also fixing their defensive rebounding issues, but any significant declines in possession play would be surprising.

What are possible weaknesses?

Roughly speaking, three stars is better than two. But Embiid’s injury history is extensive, and George is 34. The Sixers know all about injury misfortune and need things to finally find their way into the playoffs.

Maxey, Lowry, Gordon, Jackson and McCain are all 6’3″ or smaller. These players have traits that compensate for their lack of size — Jackson’s 7’1″ wingspan, Lowry’s strength and intelligence, etc. — but it may not always be easy to successfully transition from one-to-four or one-to-five on defense.

Drummond and Caleb Martin stand out as new role players who like to work hard and fight for “50-50” balls. Still, the Sixers will miss Nicolas Batum’s smart, selfless play and brilliant passing. Sure, the Sixers’ stars will run the show most of the time, but it’s hard to truly replace Batum’s calm grasp on just about every situation imaginable and his great chemistry with Embiid.

What’s the best way to handle power forward?

On many nights, the Sixers should be fine if they opt not to give “traditional” power forward minutes. There’s no need to guard post-up after post-up these days, and none of Oubre, George and Martin can be considered terribly underperforming.

• Oubre: 2.01 meters tall with a wingspan of 2.11 meters, 92 kilos

• George: 2.03 meters tall with a wingspan of 2.08 meters, 100 kilos

• Martin: 1.95 meters with a wingspan of 2.08 meters, 95 kilos

Council, 23, and KJ Martin both welcome physical challenges. Martin has more NBA frontcourt practice, but the idea of ​​Council defending four points and earning time as a second-unit wing/forward doesn’t strike us as all that out of the ordinary.

If Yabusele maintains his Olympic form, this topic might not be so complicated for the Sixers. Either way, a 6-foot-8, 270-pound player could be extremely useful in certain matchups. For example, opening night opponent Milwaukee plays 6-foot-10, 250-pound Bobby Portis at both the five and four.

The Sixers tried a little bit of the “King Kong-Godzilla” duo — Drummond and Embiid — during the 2021-22 season. That would be very much outside the box, but it’s a theoretical option if the Sixers absolutely need a rebound, are playing against a double-big unit or simply want to experiment.

How do the Sixers handle their draft picks?

McCain is 20 years old and Bona is 21. Both were productive college players, but ambitious full-strength prospects typically don’t throw young players into key roles.

If he can earn Nurse’s respect and trust, Bona will have a clear path to minutes. Any time Embiid or Drummond misses a game, he’ll slide into the Sixers’ No. 2 center. Of course, the Sixers could always send Bona to the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats to get some game practice.

McCain should learn a lot just by watching and listening to teammates like Maxey and Lowry. The Duke product had a subpar shooting performance in summer league — 28.6 percent from the floor, 25.5 percent from the three-point line — but McCain hopes to show Nurse that he’s a high-caliber marksman who can shoot quickly and do well on and off the ball.

Maxey could tell him that there is a good chance that he will only get playing time occasionally as a rookie.