There have been 52 weeks come and go in 2025, a year that has had a few highs and many lows for the Sixers, whose short- and long-term organizational outlook shifted dramatically over the last 15 months or so.

A whole lot has happened over the last 52 weeks. One constant: every Monday, we have published 5 Sixers thoughts, kicking off each week with a batch of notes about the team, whether it be statistical breakdowns, stray thoughts from previous games, rumors and transactions or old memories.

This week is no different, and as the Sixers continue to try to find their footing to maintain their early season momentum, the final edition of our weekly notebook in 2025 will begin with a focus on nine-time All-Star Paul George's scoring profile in his second season in Philadelphia.

Let's begin the week:

Paul George's shot diet is still problematic

After missing all four of his shots inside the arc on Sunday, George is officially shooting 40.0 percent on two-point attempts in 2025-26. George has been a considerably better all-around player so far this year than he was in his debut season with the Sixers, but this is not good enough. The Sixers need more from George as a self-creator, where he has struggled immensely of late.

Throughout last season, I was constantly checking in on the numbers that best reflected George's shot profile. Basketball-reference keeps track of the percentage of each player's shot attempts from various distance ranges, starting at within three feet of the rim and going out to beyond the arc. Last season, George was taking fewer shots at the rim than ever – his rim frequency was nearly half of what it was during his tremendous two-year run in Oklahoma City – and his mid-range frequencies were skyrocketing.

With 14 games under his belt, a recent slide in shot selection and two-point scoring has damaged the outlook on George. His profile is strikingly similar, with a nearly identical percentage of shots in between 10 feet and the three-point line. What is not reflected in the table below but provides some encouragement is that George's volume of free throws is up quite a bit from last year (though the bar was low). Take a look at the entire picture, with George's previous stops with the Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers next to his two partial seasons with the Sixers for comparison:

stats via basketball-reference

Last season, George's shot profile data was so ominous because it matched what the eye test said: that the nine-time All-Star no longer had the off-the-dribble explosion required to consistently create advantages. Teams began sitting on his pull-up jumpers, worsening the quality of those looks as he also took fewer shots around the rim.

This year, it is not as if George has looked as spry as he did 10 years ago or five years ago, but he has looked much more capable of breaking down defenses than he did one year ago. Is his recent slide merely a blip, or was his surprising start to the season on that front a mirage of sorts? This will not be the last time we revisit his shooting frequencies.

MORE: Is Joel Embiid holding Tyrese Maxey back?

Is Adem Bona the backup center again?

The Sixers had a disastrous late-game collapse in Chicago on Friday night, but Sixers head coach Nick Nurse pivoted from Andre Drummond to Adem Bona as Joel Embiid's primary backup in the second half and it paid dividends. Drummond staged a stellar resurgence after his disappointing campaign last season, but his minutes of late have been a struggle. Perhaps Drummond's knee is not at 100 percent, but even when Drummond was moving better he will never be the kind of mover Bona is.

Once again on Sunday, Nurse rode the hot hand with Bona despite Drummond starting, and Bona might have been the Sixers' second-best player against the defending champions. Bona helped the Sixers stick around against the Thunder in Oklahoma City for a half and change; his energy was off the charts and it powered him on both ends of the floor:

The Sixers will return to action on Tuesday night when they face the Grizzlies in Memphis. If Embiid suits up, the guess here is that Bona will back him up, not Drummond. But given Embiid's constant availability issues, both of the reserve centers are critical figures.

Clearing up some two-way confusion

The same day that I wrote a comprehensive breakdown of how the Sixers can utilize the remaining two-way availability of standout rotation forwards Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker and then get the two young players on long-term standard contracts, the Sixers opted to waive their third two-way player, undrafted rookie guard Hunter Sallis.

Sallis was replaced by former first-round pick MarJon Beauchamp. Based on the day he officially put pen to paper on his two-way deal, Beauchamp can be eligible to dress for up to 31 games, a Sixers source confirmed to PhillyVoice on Friday.

In light of the two-way shakeup coming on the same day as the aforementioned breakdown of the Sixers' upcoming two-way decisions, it is worth clearing up: as long as the Sixers do not plan to activate Beauchamp for the next four weeks or so, the math in that story remains unchanged as far as when the team will have to begin performing conversions.

Exactly four weeks from today, Jan. 26, currently looks like the date by which the Sixers will have to convert Barlow or Walker to a standard deal – assuming neither player misses any time before that point. If that happens, the clock can run for a little while longer.

MORE: When and how will Barlow and Walker be converted to standard contracts?

A troublesome frontcourt combination

Drummond and Dominick Barlow started together in Oklahoma City, as has been common practice when Embiid is sidelined. Barlow has earned every bit of his starting power forward spot, and his fit with Embiid has been outstanding. But with Drummond? Not as much.

Across 18 games and 195 minutes, the Sixers have an Offensive Rating of just 96.8 with Barlow and Drummond on the floor together. Among 47 two-player combinations that have been used by the Sixers for at least 125 minutes this season, it is dead last in offense by a significant margin; the next-lowest figures are 102.6.

Oddly, this is the case despite a significant number of plays in which Barlow and Drummond have displayed some unique chemistry. Specifically, they seem to have an innate understanding when Drummond ends up with the ball of where and how Barlow can make himself available as a cutter. In one game earlier this month, Barlow scored two baskets by cutting off of Drummond offensive rebounds:

The Drummond-to-Barlow connection is not limited to opportunistic plays off the offensive glass; when Drummond finds himself in a 4-on-3 situation Barlow is often the player positioned to receive his passes on short rolls:

"Dom and I formed this understanding relationship from day one, when he first got here," Drummond said earlier this month. "Like, it was one of those things where, like, I see you, you see me. Like, I don't have to tell you, I know you're just going to do it. And it was weird because the first day I came in for our pre-camp training camp, I did something similar to that too, where I'll get it and he would just always be in the right spot. So, it just shows that we're connected in that sense, too. So, we’re going to keep building on it and going forward with it."

On Sunday, the connection flipped, with Barlow making a tremendous play to beat Oklahoma City's pressure, get downhill, draw Drummond's defender and thread the needle in traffic with a perfect dump-off pass:

Ultimately, though, Barlow's limitations as a three-point shooter and Drummond's lack of utility aside from the occasional corner triple have made for a recipe too brutal for the Sixers to withstand and score points. Whenever Embiid next misses more time, it will be interesting to see if Nurse tries mixing up his frontcourt pairings to avoid this one, or if he believes it is more noise than anything else.

So long, old friend

Earlier this month, the Sixers' G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, swung a trade sending Exhibit 10 contract signee Emoni Bates for former Sixers second-round pick Charles Bassey. It was the rare trade in the G League to receive any level of buzz, for the simple fact that Sixers fans remember Bassey from his rookie season.

The organization, however, was unsure if Bassey would actually report to the Blue Coats. It is not uncommon for players traded in the G League to refrain from reporting and try to maneuver to a better situation. Bassey never ended up playing for the Blue Coats; on Saturday he was traded to the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State's affiliate, in exchange for first-round picks in each of the G League's next two drafts, as well as the returning player rights to Jackson Rowe.

Rowe, a 28-year-old Canadian wing whose six games of NBA experience all came with the Warriors last season, recently signed a deal with an Israeli team. If Rowe returns to the G League, the Blue Coats will have his rights.

Bassey is expected to play for Santa Cruz, the team said in its press release announcing the trade.

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