December 31, 2025
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Was VJ Edgecombe's historic NBA debut the Sixers' best moment of 2025?
It is hard to fathom a more challenging year than what 2025 became for the Sixers, but as the calendar turns to 2026 they appear to be out of the woods in terms of the sort of nightmarish outcomes they experienced a season ago.
However, this team was built around Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey in the summer of 2024 with championship aspirations in mind. They have not come anywhere close to that, and given Embiid's reduced productivity and availability, it is difficult to envision them getting there at any point in the near future. But after the misery that took place last year, there is something to be said for what the Sixers are right now: a solid team which generally plays an enjoyable brand of basketball.
With Embiid in and out of the lineup – and largely a shell of his former NBA MVP self when he does play – how much damage can this Sixers team actually do?
For the final time in 2025, it is time to take the temperature of how the national media feels about the Sixers in our weekly power ranking roundup:
John Schuhmann's rankings, which were published after the Sixers lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday but before their game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday, highlighted the team's constant issues in third quarters:
"Embiid still hasn’t played in more than three straight games and he missed the game against Oklahoma City on Sunday (when the Sixers were down by just two points at halftime). They were down 16 entering the fourth quarter, because they lost the third by double-digits for the 11th time this season. They’ve now been outscored by 22.3 points per 100 possessions n the third period, the worst mark for any team in any quarter." [NBA.com]
After a game the Sixers won in November despite another horrid third quarter, the phrase "30th in 3rd Q" was written on a whiteboard. Someone took a red marker and wrote one word over the top of that figure: "STILL."
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The Sixers' tough skid before Tuesday's dramatic overtime win over the Memphis Grizzlies caused them to fall in rankings across the board, with a major drop here. But, as Tim Bontemps points out, reinforcements are on the way:
"Although Joel Embiid shuttled in and out of the lineup with various issues, the 76ers are getting closer to whole from a health standpoint with Kelly Oubre Jr. and Trendon Watford returning to practice this week, and their expected returns will give a team that skews small some much-needed size on the wings." [ESPN]
It should not be forgotten how important Oubre was to this team's early-season success, before the game in which he suffered the left knee LCL sprain, which has held him out for more than six weeks, Oubre was fourth in the NBA in minutes per game and playing the best two-way basketball of his career.
Oubre and Watford both appear to at least have chances to return to action before the Sixers' road trip ends, suddenly giving Sixers head coach Nick Nurse a plentiful collection of playable forwards.
The Sixers experienced a steep week-to-week decline in the rankings of Law Murray as well, a reaction to three consecutive losses prior to Tuesday's game in Memphis. On the bright side, Murray reflected on one positive and memorable moment for each team in 2025. The choice for the Sixers: VJ Edgecombe's historic NBA debut.
"Philadelphia lucked out and got the third pick in the draft, and then Edgecombe went out and scored a Sixers NBA debut record 34 points in his first game." [The Athletic]
Edgecombe has staged so many brilliant feats in just these two months and change that in some ways this masterpiece of a debut feels like it happened just over two years ago, not just over two months ago:
All 13 of VJ Edgecombe's made shots from his historic NBA debut: pic.twitter.com/znMrLhJ5N6
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) October 23, 2025
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Follow Adam on Twitter: @SixersAdam
