(Mandatory Credit: Luke Hales/Getty Images)
The calendar has turned to September. You know what that means, right?! Our offseason outlook series is back for the third-straight year!
Hot Hot Hoops senior writer Matt Hanifan will provide his take on the offseasons of all 30 teams for the next 30 days! We will be going in alphabetical order, beginning with the Eastern Conference. Today, we will look at the Philadelphia 76ers’ summer!
Previous offseason outlooks:
Evaluating the Philadelphia 76ers’ 2026 offseason:
Additions: Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Anfernee Simons
Subtractions: Paul George, Andre Drummond, Quentin Grimes, Kelly Oubre Jr., Kyle Lowry, Trendon Watford
Re-signed: ——-
Draft: Labaron Philon (No. 22 overall)
Hanifan’s outlook: You couldn’t have scripted a better offseason for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Coming off an encouraging 45-win season practically stole Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics like it was taking candy for a baby. All it took was Paul George, who is 36-years-old with one of the worst contracts in the NBA, plus a pair of measly first-round picks. Nearly two months removed, it’s still an indefensible move by the Celtics.
Brown is not only a quality shot creator, but he’s an extra ballhandler to take pressure off star guard Tyrese Maxey. The 76ers also drafted Labaron Philon, who should have been a lottery pick, at 22, and Anfernee Simons, a Heat target. I was a huge fan of Philon’s ability to process and keep defenders on his hip in the pick-and-roll. He’ll have to get much stronger and improve defensively, but I think he will be a good rotation guard alongside Maxey.
The cherry on top was adding LeBron James to a two-year minimum. A Maxey-Brown-James-Joel Embiid quartet will need to mesh defensively for them to be a legitimate contender. And Embiid will need to stay healthy, which is obvious.
Though I am very bullish on their dynamicism and versatility offensively. Head coach Nick Nurse will be able to stagger those lineups to keep them fresh, and I think they have just enough depth to provide enough punch offensively.
Grade: A+
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