Sixers season from hell yet again, leaves their fate to the NBA Draft Lottery Balls

The 2024-25 NBA Playoffs are officially underway, but you won’t find any red, white, or blue confetti flying in Philadelphia this year. For the first time in nearly a decade, the Sixers are nowhere near the postseason — and frankly, they never even got close.

What was supposed to be a year of redemption after another second-round exit turned into a brutal collapse that saw the Sixers miss the playoffs entirely, limping to a fifth-worst finish in the NBA. Injuries, suspensions, trades, and general dysfunction torpedoed a promising roster, and now fans are left right back where they started — staring at a lottery simulator and hoping for some bounce-back karma.

Sixers Dream Offseason Turned Into a Nightmare

It all started so well. The Sixers’ offseason haul looked like something out of a fantasy rebuild:

• Paul George, the marquee free agent, signed on the dotted line.
• Caleb Martin, Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon, Guerschon Yabusele, and Kyle Lowry added depth and playoff experience.
• Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey got paid — $193M and $204M respectively — locking in the franchise cornerstones.
• Kelly Oubre Jr. and KJ Martin were brought back to round out a deep and dangerous bench.

This was supposed to be the squad that finally busted through the second-round glass ceiling.

Instead, it shattered on impact.

A Sixers Season Defined by Chaos

Here’s how it all unraveled:

• Embiid wasn’t ready to start the season due to knee surgery recovery, and Paul George hyperextended his knee in preseason. The vibes were already off before opening night.
• Maxey pressed under the weight of carrying the offense and saw his shooting numbers tank.
• Caleb Martin couldn’t find the rim, got hurt, and was eventually flipped to Dallas for Quentin Grimes.
• Embiid returned, shoved a Philadelphia Inquirer columnist (earning a 3-game suspension), broke a bone in his face, and then was shut down again in February with lingering knee issues.
• George returned but never looked like himself, then got shut down in March with a torn tendon in his pinky.
• Jared McCain, the team’s promising rookie and early Rookie of the Year favorite, blew out his knee in December and missed the rest of the year.
• Maxey, fighting through a hand injury, was shut down in April.
• By the final month, the Sixers were rolling out lineups that looked more like G League tryouts than NBA rotations.

After going 11-41 since January 1, the Process 2.0 was fully operational.

Now What? The NBA Draft Lottery (Again)

Philadelphia’s season ended with a 24-58 record, good for fifth-worst in the NBA. That locks the Sixers into the No. 5 slot in the lottery with 10.5% odds at landing the No. 1 overall pick.

The key: they must land in the top 6 or else the pick conveys to Oklahoma City, thanks to the cursed 2020 Al Horford–Danny Green trade. There’s a 64% chance the Sixers keep the pick. If it falls to 7 or lower? Poof — it’s gone.

Here’s the Sixers’ pick odds:

• No. 1 – 10.5%
• No. 2 – 10.5%
• No. 3 – 10.5%
• No. 4 – 10.5%
• No. 5 – 2.2%
• No. 6 – 19.6%
• No. 7 – 26.7%
• No. 8 – 8.7%
• No. 9 – 0.6%

And the full No. 1 pick odds across the lottery:

• Utah Jazz – 14%
• Washington Wizards – 14%
• Charlotte Hornets – 14%
• New Orleans Pelicans – 12.5%
• Philadelphia 76ers – 10.5%
• Brooklyn Nets – 9%
• Toronto Raptors – 7.5%
• San Antonio Spurs – 6%
• Phoenix Suns (via Houston) – 3.8%
• Portland Trail Blazers – 3.7%
• Dallas Mavericks – 1.8%
• Chicago Bulls – 1.7%
• Sacramento Kings (to ATL) – 0.8%
• Atlanta Hawks – 0.7%

The 2025 NBA Draft Lottery takes place May 12th in Chicago. The NBA Draft itself runs June 25-26.

Cooper Flagg officially declares for NBA Draft

Final Thoughts

The Sixers went all in, and everything that could go wrong did. Injuries decimated the core, the vibes were shot, and by April, they were praying for lottery ping pong balls instead of playoff matchups.

There’s still a window. A healthy Embiid (whatever that means), a recharged Maxey, and maybe — just maybe — a lottery miracle could reset the franchise’s trajectory. But after everything this team has been through, fans are right to be skeptical.

Process, rebooted. Again.

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