December 10, 2025
Today is Wednesday, which means the time has come for our weekly check-in on the national media and its perception of the Sixers.
Last week, all three major outlets we follow had the Sixers ranked 17th out of 30 NBA teams; this week, they all gave the Sixers slight bumps. An improved defense has helped the Sixers of late, though the makeup of their roster still incites plenty of skepticism that they have enough size for it to last.
Let's not waste any time. Diving into the power rankings:
In his usual statistical breakdowns, John Schuhmann highlights that as their offense has faltered of late, the Sixers have made significant strides defensively. It is in strong agreement with the eye test:
"While the offense hasn’t been very good over the last couple of weeks, the Sixers now rank as a better-than-average defensive team, having allowed just 105.1 points per 100 possessions (second best) over their last six games. Three of those games came against teams in the bottom 10 offensively, but they also held the Lakers’ sixth-ranked offense in check on Sunday." [NBA.com]
While Schuhmann is right that the Sixers' defensive surge has come against lesser competition, it is evident during games that they have been far more cohesive regardless.
MORE: Is Maxey for Giannis Antetokounmpo a fair trade?
ESPN's writers chose each team's biggest weakness. For the Sixers, Tim Bontemps went with "interior size (with and without Embiid)." His explanation:
"Let's set aside the obvious question of how regularly, and effectively, Joel Embiid will be able to play. Even when that isn't accounted for, this is still a perimeter-oriented, guard-heavy roster. That style has plenty of benefits for Philadelphia, but also a fair share of issues at both ends. That lack of size showed up in a significant way defensively in Sunday's loss to the Lakers, when LeBron James repeatedly muscled his way inside en route to his best game of the season." [ESPN]
The Sixers certainly have an imbalanced roster positionally, and head coach Nick Nurse continues to lean into the fact that four of his best players are guards. Going smaller is unquestionably a much more challenging proposition without stout rim protection.
MORE: Sixers' shrewd two-way signings paying off
Law Murray gives each team a letter grade for their performance in the first quarter of the 2025-26 season, landing on a solid B for the Sixers. He breaks that down a bit:
"This is definitely an A for Tyrese Maxey and a C for the rest of the team. Credit the 76ers for getting off the mat from last season’s disaster bomb, getting a No. 3 overall pick from the tank in the starting lineup and playing good enough defense to let Maxey run circles around NBA defenses, smiling the whole time." [The Athletic]
There is certainly no question that Maxey, currently leading the NBA in minutes and shot attempts while trailing only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in points scored, deserves an A for what he has accomplished already this season. Maxey's blend of volume, efficiency, durability and motor has truly been jaw-dropping. Maxey has also been a legitimately valuable defensive player on top of the massive offensive workload he is shouldering.
MORE: Maxey, LeBron James sing each other's praises; how will Sixers utilize layoffs?
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