The Philadelphia 76ers are amped for the upcoming 2024-25 season. Paul George signed a four-year, $212M contract with the Sixers over the summer. General manager Elton Brand and president of basketball operations Daryl Morey have retooled the roster around PG and Joel Embiid. As fans wait for George’s Philadelphia debut in October, they received a https://twitter.com/sixers/status/1836146045148975309 of a Sixers’ workout.
basketball. 🔜 pic.twitter.com/ZIkRH5EdXz
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) September 17, 2024
One fan replied to the picture and video of George’s workout, “We’re so ready.”
Another fan kept it short and sweet, “Poetry.”
The 76ers begin their season against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, October 23, at 7:30 p.m. EST.
Projecting the 2024-25 76ers with Joel Embiid, Paul George
It’s not all poetry, though. ESPN’s Tim Bontemps outlined some early cracks in Philly’s armor during his appearance on The Hoop Collective.
“Caleb Martin, who I think is going to be their starting power forward — you can argue it’s going to be somebody else, but Caleb Martin would be the shortest power forward in the league, I would assume, by a decent amount, per Stats. (ESPN’s guy Stats Williams),” Bontemps said.
He continued to talk about how if the 76ers opt to play Paul George out of position at PF, it still could be an issue.
“Well, Paul George is also not power forward size either, that’s the point. They have a lot of talent, and they’ve done a great job this summer of putting as much talent together as they could, but they don’t have a lot of typical power forward size,” Bontemps added.
If the 76ers choose to go big, they can also put Andre Drummond on the floor. In limited minutes, he can be a defensive force. Drummond detailed how he’s pushing Embiid to be the best player he can be and vice versa via ClutchPoints’ Sam DiGiovanni.
“I’m playing against the best center in the league every single day, so not only is he getting the best work out of me, vice versa — I’m getting the best work out of him because he’s challenging me, as well,” Drummond said. “And for me, he knows I’m not gonna ever back down from him.
“And it’s been like that [since] I’ve been in Detroit,” he continued. “I think that’s really why he respects me, because no matter how good he is, he might have the upper hand on me but I’m gonna keep coming. I’m gonna push him to be great. I’m gonna push him to be the best player he can be, really to show the world why he is the best center to play this game.”
The 76ers haven’t made an Eastern Conference final since 2001, the year Allen Iverson led them to the NBA Finals in an eventual 4-1 loss against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Sixers may only have a couple of prime years left with Embiid to make a run at a title. PG needs to be that missing piece.
