76ers Get DISRESPECTED By ESPN And Bleacher Report In NBA Power Rankings | Sixers News & Rumors

76ers Get DISRESPECTED By ESPN And Bleacher Report In NBA Power Rankings | Sixers News & Rumors

[Music] Are the 76ers being disrespected as we head into the 202526 NBA season? NBA power rankings starting to be released. ESPN, Bleach Report, NBA.com, all releasing some of their initial power rankings for next season. So, we’re going to take a look at where the Sixers rank according to these so-called experts. And spoiler alert, it’s kind of low down the board. But we’ll get into all that. Before we do, I want to hear from you guys. I think a lot of you probably know more about ball than ESPN bleach report and all that. So, I want to know where the Sixers land in your personal power rankings. Of course, 30 teams in the NBA. Rank them for me. Number one through number 30. I’ll release my power ranking at the end here of today’s show. So, let’s begin with ESPN, who had the Sixers coming in at number 18. And look, I know the Sixers are a tough team to rank, right, because of all the unknowns and injury concerns. And so, I’m not going to be surprised at where some of these rankings come in, but I think some of them are a little bit disrespectful. ESPN here at number 18, when you take a look at where the this is in relation to some other NBA teams. I mean, look, teams like Boston, who we know missing Jason Tatum for the year, trade away Chris Eporzing, trade away Drew Holiday. You’re saying confidently they’re going to be better than Philadelphia this year. Young team like the Spurs confidently are going to be better than Philadelphia. Puts them right in there with Miami and Indiana. But this is what ESPN and Tim Bontmps had to say regarding the 76ers. Sixers have done some nice things in the margins, including letting Jabari Walker on a two-way deal, snagging VJ Edgecomb and Janai Broom in last month’s NBA draft. As usual, though, the biggest news of the off season remains injury related. Paula George underwent a knee procedure that and will be re-evaluated before the start of training camp in September. And Joel MB declared there is no timetable for his return. So again, as we get into all these power rankings, of course, it’s never going to be as high as they could be because of the injury worries. You can’t really rank the Sixers based off their current roster talent because we don’t know if that current roster talent is going to be available for Philadelphia. But look, when I look at ESPN’s power rankings, not just the teams they are right around, but like Atlanta’s all the way up at number 12, right? Are they that much better heading into the year than Philadelphia? team like the Memphis Grizzlies who traded away Desmond Bane and also have injury concerns with John Moran. Jiren Jackson Jr. also got hurt. He’s going to miss a lot of time. So, they’re at 15. You’re confident they’re better at this moment in time than Philadelphia. So again, I understand why the Sixers are where they are, and I would not put them super high either, but I think especially to have them below a team like the Boston Celtics who also dealing with their own injury concerns and lost a lot of talent from last season and really by all accounts, they’re looking ahead towards next season, right? Not even this season. I think Philadelphia is a better team than Boston, at least for this year. What do you guys think? Who’s going to have a better record this season? will be the Sixers. Type Phi in the comments. Will be the Celtics. Type BS for Boston down in the comments. And you can predict their record as well if you would like down there in the comments section. So, that was ESPN coming in with Philadelphia at the 18th best team in the NBA as of today. Bleacher Report a little bit lower on Philadelphia even than ESPN is having the Sixers come in at number 23 overall. And this one I think is a little bit more egregious. You take a look at the other teams around Philadelphia, you’re going to tell me the Sacramento Kings who, you know, during the season treadway De’arren Fox and they try to reunite Demar Rosen and Zack Lavine and you had Damonte Sabonis over there. Like that team is not good. You’re going to tell me there about the Sixers, the Portland Trailblazers. I know they ended the year very strong. They have a lot of very talented young players. There’s no doubt about it. But you’re going to tell me right now you would pick the Portland Trailblazers to win more games than the Philadelphia 76ers? That’s unbelievable to me. I mean, during this ranking with a team like the Phoenix Suns, who of course lost Kevin Durant, lost Bradley Bill, you had Deon Booker over there, but a young unproven team. And Toronto right below Philadelphia. Even last year, I think the Sixers were a better team than the Raptors, even if they didn’t quite win as many games. So, this one I think a little bit more disrespectful. And look, it’s a lot of the same from Bleacher Report on their reasoning for the ranking. Recent reporting suggests Joel Embiid’s knee may not be ready for the start of training camp, someone with his injury history, that is definitely alarming. And if he and 35year-old Paul George are in and out of the lineup in much the same way they were in 2024, 2025, there’s a good chance the Sexers could be in for another losing season. with Tyrese Maxi, Jerry McCain and VJHOM on the team. There is reason for optimism, but the two highest paid players may push that optimism down the road a little bit. And look, we looked at some of the teams that Bleach Report had above Philadelphia like Sacramento and like the Portland Trailblazers, but there were some teams even farther ahead on that list like the Chicago Bulls, the Indiana Pacers, the Miami Heat, all even higher than Philadelphia on that list. I think that this is just a little too low and a little too disrespectful for the roster talent Philadelphia has even outside of Joel Embiid and Paula George given their injury histories. I get it. Especially with the unknown on Embiid right now, but you still have Tyrese Maxi. I’m assuming you have Quinton Grimes, right? VJcom, Jerry McCain. Like there are still other talented pieces on this team that I think you have to at least consider the fact that Paul George and B could be healthy and there’s still a lot of other good talent on this squad. So, look, 23 from Bleacher Report, like 18 from ESPN, I can’t be super mad at, although I will have them higher in my personal power ranking. 23 is just really too low, even given I understand how bad it was last season. Finally, we got NBA.com who put the Sixers at seventh in the East here in their power rankings. They split their power rankings up between Eastern Conference and Western Conference. So, we don’t get a total ranking here for Philadelphia, but they have them seventh in the East. When you take a look at the top eight for NBA.com power rankings, obviously Philadelphia slides in there at number seven. You can see the teams above them, Cleveland, New York, I think the consensus top two, but we’ve talked about this a lot, right? Like even those two teams then Orlando, Detroit, Atlanta, Milwaukee who obviously lost D and they have Giannis but the rest of that roster is pretty bad. There’s no team in the East that is the huge favorite or that I would be super super afraid of. Right. So, you know, even at seven, Milwaukee above them, I get they have Giannis. A lot of other questions there. Atlanta, I like what they did this off seasonason, but they’ve got to prove it. They haven’t won a lot of games. Detroit, Orlando, they’re young. So, Philadelphia at 7, I think they could be higher than that. Now, NBA.com when they release the power rankings, some numbers to know, they release that kind of tell the story of the Sixers last year, why they have them at seventh in the East. We’ll start here. Sixers were the only team without a lineup that played at least 100 minutes last season. Think about that. The only team without a lineup that played at least 100 minutes last season. Their mostus used fiveman group played just 72 minutes over eight games together as a trio. Maxi, George, and Embiid played just 294 minutes over 15 games. Sixers outscored by half a point per 100 possessions in those minutes. Again, a lot of different lineups for Philadelphia contributing to why they were so bad. They also saw the league’s second biggest drop off from the previous season in regard to both winning percentage and point differential per 100 possessions. also saw the biggest drop in rebounding percentage, 22nd and 23 24 to 30th last season. We know rebounding was a massive, massive problem for Philadelphia. They also ranked 26th defensively and last in shot quality defense according to second spectrum tracking, but their zone defense ranked seventh among the 22 teams that played at least 100 possessions of zone. Only the Heat played more zone sixers. We know Nick Nurse likes to mix things up a little bit. So, look, a lot of those numbers right there, you figure have to improve at least a little bit. There’s no way the Sixers once again are running that many different lineups that aren’t playing that many minutes together. Even if they do still have some injury concerns, you got to figure it’ll get at least a little bit better. Now, NBA.com’s biggest concern why they have Philadelphia at seventh in the East. It’s really centering around Paul George and not just the injury, but even if he is healthy, what does he actually have left in the tank? Here’s NBA.com on PG. Let’s envision a 25 to 26 season in which Embed and George are healthy at least once the latter has recovered from his mid July knee surgery. Then the question is if that tandem can return to how they played on separate teams two seasons ago. That’s when Embiid averaged more than a point per minute and when Paul George registered a career best true shooting percentage of 61.3. But last season Paul George had the biggest drop off from 61.3 to 54.3 among players with at least 500 field goal attempts in each of the last two years. and it was his shooting from outside the paint as well as his free throw rate which fell to a career low 17 attempts per 100 shots in the field. We’ve talked a lot about the Paula George inability to get to the line definitely concerning. And he’s now 35 years old with three years and 162 men left on his contract. How will he recovers from last season and this current knee injury will go a long way in determining how good the Sixers are on both ends of the floor. So there are certainly still concerns apart from health, especially on Paulie George because of mainly my biggest concern which they brought up is the free throw rate, the inability to get to the rim. But he dealt with injuries from before the first regular season game last season. Hopefully they give him enough time to recover this year because I think those injuries did play a part in him slowing down next year. I think he should be better if he’s healthy this year than he was last year and that could contribute to Philadelphia being higher than what you know a site like NBA.com is on Philadelphia. They have the Sixers coming in at seventh in the East this season. I want you to fill in the blank for me as we continue this power rankings talk here on 76ers. Now the Sixers will finish blank in the East. First, second, third, fourth, all the way down to 15th. you think they’ll come in dead last? Just let me know what you think down in the comment section. And before we get to my thoughts and where I the Sixers and my personal power rankings and some more thoughts on these power rankings, an insane deal on this 76ers pullover hoodie that you guys got to take advantage of right now. This hoodie was $70. It is now priced well over 50% off down to just $28 if you go to this link chatsports.com/76pullover. Take advantage of that deal because it is a limited time only. Get the hoodie now while it’s still warm out so when it gets colder out and it’s not on sale anymore, you can say, “Yeah, I got that for just $28.” Again, chatports.com/76pullover. I’ll add that link in the comments section and description of today’s show. go take advantage. Again, limited time, that deal will not last forever. So, look, I’m not surprised that this is where Philly comes in, according to a lot of these teams, because it is such an unknown with their health concerns and some of the new changes they made to the roster. I’m not going to sit here and act shocked that they are bottom half of the league right now according to a lot of these metrics, but I I do think especially 23rd is just a little bit too low. and I am a little bit higher on this team. Now, I will say something that I kind of been thinking about with Philadelphia and as we look at these power rankings and project where they’re going to finish. Now, power rankings aren’t always a projection of where you think the team will finish. It’s more of a how do you feel about the team at this current point, I have a tough time seeing Philadelphia finish of the pack. I think there’s really two outcomes for Philadelphia. They stay healthy, everything gets back on track, their young talent prevails, and they’re a really good team. Or if things go poorly, I think they’ll just be really bad once again. I don’t think they’ll end up, you know, around 500. I think they’ll either be well above it, a top four seed in the East or or well below it and once again with a top pick in the draft. Now, of course, you still need to get Quinn Grimes back on here and you’ll leave one roster spot open heading into the season, but you know, assuming health again on the high end, there’s no way you can’t tell me this team, if they’re healthy, can’t win 50 plus games, right? But then on the low end, they get hurt. talking about George and Embiid, you could get again again see a season, excuse me, where they win just 20 to 30 games and it’s a disaster. But with the young talent they have, I am betting a little bit more on that high-end upside if everything goes right and if they can stay healthy. So again, ESPN 18th, Bleacher Report 23rd, NBA.com 7th in the East, output the Sixers, of course, in the playin. I am going to come in a little bit higher. Maybe I’m a little bit biased, I don’t know, on some of these power rankings here for Philadelphia. I’m gonna have the Sixers coming in at 13. Little spoiler. Where do you have the Sixers landing in your power rankings? Give me a one through 30. Again, now that we’ve talked about this a little bit, I know I asked this at the top of the show. Where do you have them coming in right now again? 1 through 30. I got 13. And so that’s a little bit higher than, you know, ESPN at 18, Bleacher Report at 23rd. I also have them coming in fifth in the East. Again, this isn’t necessarily a projection for where they will finish a year, but just how I feel about the team right now. So, I had them fifth in the East, 13th overall. I think when you think about teams like, you know, the Atlanta Hawks, who I had them over, Milwaukee Bucks, who I had them over, there’s just more talent on the Sexers team. You know, Atlanta’s an interesting one because they did a lot of new pieces, a lot of good young players, but they’ve all got to fit together. I feel better about Philadelphia than I do about Milwaukee, right? Because you have Giannis. Yeah, you bring in Miles Turner, but there’s really not much else on that roster. And then above teams like the Memphis Grizzlies that we talked about, right? Uh above a team like I think even the San Antonio Spurs who hey, you got Webby, but you really got to see it. He’s got to stay healthy as well. So 13th right now. I think that’s honestly fair. I think if you can tell me the Sixers team would be fully healthy, I think it’s easily a top 10 roster in the league. But of course, you cannot guarantee me that. That’s why I dropped him a little bit, but I think their upside could be a top two or three team in the Eastern Conference if everything does go right. Before we hop on out of here, the NBA did announce that the schedules for all 30 teams are dropping this Thursday. And when we know the full six schedule, we’ll of course let you guys know what those key matchups are, any prime time games. No Christmas game for Philadelphia this season, but should be some interesting games on the schedule this season. So again, that’s on Thursday. So do not miss out. Be sure to subscribe, turn on your notifications so that when we drop a video, you will be notified. Once again, as always, thank you guys for tuning in to today’s show. Don’t forget to hit that sub button and we’ll see you next time right here on 76ers Now. [Music]

Philadelphia 76ers rumors today: NBA Power Rankings have begun to drop as ESPN, Bleacher Report and NBA.com have all begun to release their official NBA Power Rankings for the 2025-26 NBA season. The Sixers, coming off a disaster 2024-25 year and a busy offseason in the NBA Draft and NBA Free Agency, don’t rank as high as in previous seasons. 76ers Now host Jake Chipper reacts to the latest NBA Power Rankings, where the Sixers rank and his personal ranking for the Sixers on today’s Philadelphia 76ers YouTube video!

Make your voices heard by dropping your 76ers takes in the comments:
– Where do the 76ers land in your power rankings? Rank: 1-30
– Who will have a better record in 2025? Type ‘PHI’ for Sixers or ‘BOS’ for Celtics
– The Sixers will finish _ in the Eastern Conference

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Philadelphia 76ers NBA Power Rankings:
– ESPN: 18th
– Bleacher Report: 23rd
– NBA.com: 7th in East

NEXT FOR YOU – More Philadelphia 76ers YouTube videos:
– 🚨NEW Quentin Grimes Update From NBA Insider Jake Fischer! Philadelphia 76ers News & Rumors – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyDwqN6Zs2w
– The 76ers Have A MAJOR DECISION To Make That Could Change EVERYTHING… – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNHsfGoSCeQ
– BLOCKBUSTER 76ers Trade Rumors On A Giannis Antetokounmpo Trade After NBA Insider Report – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y_3hhrx-zI

ESPN NBA Power Rankings:
16. San Antonio Spurs
17. Boston Celtics
18. Philadelphia 76ers
19. Miami Heat
20. Indiana Pacers

ESPN’s Tim Bontemps on Philadelphia 76ers:
“The 76ers have done some nice things on the margins, including landing Jabari Walker on a two-way deal and snagging VJ Edgecombe and Johni Broome in last month’s NBA draft. As usual, though, the biggest news of the offseason was injury-related: Paul George underwent a knee procedure that will be reevaluated before the start of training camp in September and Joel Embiid declared there is no timeline for his return.”

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Bleacher Report NBA Power Rankings:
21. Sacramento Kings
22. Portland Trail Blazers
23. Philadelphia 76ers
24. Phoenix Suns
25. Toronto Raptors

Bleacher Report on Philadelphia 76ers:
“Recent reporting suggests Joel Embiid’s knee may not be ready for the start of training camp. For someone with his injury history, that’s alarming. And if he and 35-year-old Paul George are in and out of the lineup in much the same way they were in 2024-25, there’s a good chance the Philadelphia 76ers could be in for another losing season. With Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain and VJ Edgecombe all on the team, there’s plenty of reason for optimism, but the two highest-paid players may push that optimism down the road a bit..”

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Philadelphia 76ers 2025 Cap Space:
– Salary Cap: -$29.4 MM
– 1st Apron: $8.1 MM
– 2nd Apron: $18.9 MM

NBA.com Power Rankings:
1. Cleveland Cavaliers
2. New York Knicks
3. Orlando Magic
4. Detroit Pistons
5. Atlanta Hawks
6. Milwaukee Bucks
7. Philadelphia 76ers
8. Miami Heat

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