After another disappointing playoff exit and the firing of Daryl Morey, the Sixers enter one of the most pivotal offseasons of the Joel Embiid era. With a new front office set to take over, Philadelphia now faces difficult decisions about how to maximize what remains of its championship window.
In this second mock offseason, Philly Sports Network's Sixers coverage team attempts to answer some of these questions and give the team a clear path forward for next offseason.
The first big offseason decision the Sixers will need to make is going to be who they select in the 2025-2026 NBA Draft. After trading Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder at the trade deadline, the 76ers acquired the Houston Rockets’ first-round pick this season. Now, with the NBA Playoffs nearly complete, the team will officially be picking at 22 in the draft.
Utilizing Fanspo’s mock draft simulator, Philadelphia has quite a few options at pick 22. With a clear need to improve depth on this team, the team must get a serviceable player out of this draft. Allen Graves and Dailyn Swain each received some consideration with this pick, but in the draft, the Sixers ultimately selected Bennett Stirtz from the University of Iowa.
Stirtz is a 6-foot-4 point guard who has shown a great feel for the game in his time at college. Stirtz initially started his collegiate career at Northwest Missouri State, a Division II school. However, he eventually transferred from Northwest Missouri State to Drake University, and then to the University of Iowa, following head coach Ben McCollum. In his two seasons at the Division I level, Stirtz was extremely impressive. He started in all 72 games over the course of his final two collegiate seasons and averaged 19.5 points, 5.0 assists, and 1.7 steals in that span.
This past season at Iowa, he helped lead the team to a 24-13 record. While Stirtz doesn’t have the most athletic ability of the prospects on the board, his skill set projects extremely well for this team. Taking into account his impressive three-point shooting (career 37.2% on 5.8 three-pointers a game), as well as his proficiency as a passer, alongside the maturity that comes with four years of college experience, Stirtz makes the most sense for Philly. Philadelphia has its starting guards set, but with the impending free agency of Quentin Grimes, more depth at the backup guard position is certainly needed. Stirtz may be able to become a steady hand in the backcourt who can provide some shooting and offensive production to spell Tyrese Maxey.
76ers receive:
Jake LaRavia
Los Angeles Lakers receive:
Quentin Grimes
There has been a lot of talk recently about whether the Sixers' three max contracts can all co-exist at a contender level this offseason. While the Sixers were still able to defeat the Boston Celtics in the opening round of the playoffs, they were clearly lacking significantly in the depth department. While the Sixers will consider moving on from Paul George, they recognize that he is more valuable with the team this season rather than being sent out in any sort of trade. This turns their attention to their second trade candidate: Quentin Grimes.
Grimes' time with the Sixers has seen mixed results since he joined the team. After an electric start to his Sixers tenure, Grimes held out in contract negotiations last season. This year, Grimes struggled with efficiency at times. That being said, he still averaged 13.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.3 assists a night for the Sixers, while providing solid defense. His impending unrestricted free agency is a concern, however, so the Sixers opt to sign and trade Grimes to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for forward Jake LaRavia. For the Lakers, they get to once again pair Quentin Grimes and Luka Doncic while keeping the door open for many of their own free agents to return. For the Sixers, they get a younger forward who can step in and immediately be a serviceable wing off the bench.
Sixers Receive:
Noah Penda
Orlando Magic Receive:
Johni Broome
2027 second-round pick
With this trade, the Sixers get to add another versatile, lengthy forward to their rotation in exchange for their second-round pick last year, and for a future second. While Broome showed some ability in the G-League this season, averaging 22.9 points and 8.0 rebounds a night in 18 games, he ultimately was a non-factor for the Sixers even before he went down with a meniscus tear. Penda fits head coach Nick Nurse’s system a lot better and would be a solid end-of-bench wing. For the Magic, they can hope to get ahead of their massive payroll with this trade. With Jonathan Isaac potentially out the door and a questionable future in terms of their roster and lack of draft capital, the Magic could jump at the chance to change one cost-controlled player into two, assuming they eventually make a selection with the 2027 second-round pick.
Before the Sixers can deal with free agency, they will first turn their attention to their own players. Kelly Oubre has talked at length about how he loves Philadelphia. The Sixers will quickly come to a contract agreement with Oubre, giving him a three-year, $40.5 million deal with a team option on the final season.
After that, the Sixers would accept the team option on Trendon Watford. Watford showed his potential and his chemistry this past season, especially when playing alongside his close friend Tyrese Maxey. Watford, at just 25 years old, had a solid first year in Philadelphia, averaging 6.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists a night. While Watford isn’t a star player, at just $2.8 million, he is a cost-effective option for the Sixers.
Despite picking up Watford’s option, the Sixers also would wisely pick up the team option on Dominick Barlow’s second year as well. At a salary of just over $3 million, the Sixers retain Barlow’s finishing and rebounding for a very low price. While Barlow fell out of the rotation when it came to the playoffs, another year learning head coach Nick Nurse’s system should only benefit the former two-way player who started 59 games in the 2025-2026 season.
This does mean that center Andre Drummond and forward Dalen Terry would not be returning to the Sixers for the next season. Kyle Lowry also won’t be returning, but likely because he’s (hopefully) going to retire and join Nick Nurse’s coaching staff.
With the Sixers' sign-and-trade of Quentin Grimes, they would now be hard-capped at the first apron for this season. By using Hoops Rumors projections for the salary cap and the apron levels, the Sixers, after their additions, extensions and subtractions, would now be hard capped at $209 million. This leaves the Sixers with just over $8.7 million to make two to three additional signings to the roster.
The first signing will be Kevin Huerter. Huerter lives in the memory of many Sixers fans as the three-point specialist who helped send the Sixers home against the Hawks. Since then, Huerter has bounced around from Sacramento to Chicago and, most lately, to Detroit. While that label of a three-point specialist remains attached to him, he has struggled the past couple of years from beyond the arc. The Sixers, recognizing the value in the guard, would jump at the chance to snatch him up for cheap, signing him to a two-year, $7.2 million deal with a player option on the last year.
For their next roster spot, the Sixers give center Thomas Bryant a minimum exception deal that will pay him just over $3.5 million. That contract will ultimately only count as $2.45 million against the salary cap because of the exception rules. This allows the Sixers to have just enough room to sign one more minimum exception deal for the upcoming season.
The Sixers' final addition will be to sign Russell Westbrook to a minimum exception deal as well, reuniting Westbrook with his friend and former teammate, Paul George. While the Sixers may not be able to offer the same amount of starting time, or even the same amount of minutes as the Sacramento Kings, they can at least offer a legitimate chance at playoff success. Westbrook beyond proved that he can still perform in this league last year, averaging 15.2 points, 6.7 assists and 5.4 rebounds with the Kings. With the Sixers, he’ll be able to help mentor young guards like VJ Edgecombe, Bennett Stirtz, and Tyrese Maxey while still being a key part of the rotation.
Starters:
Tyrese Maxey
VJ Edgecombe
Kelly Oubre Jr.
Paul George
Joel Embiid
Bench:
Bennett Stirtz
Kevin Huerter
Jake Laravia
Dominick Barlow
Trendon Watford
Russell Westbrook
Justin Edwards
Adam Bona
Thomas Bryant
Noah Penda
While this version of the Sixers isn’t the most likely to win an NBA Championship, they are significantly improved. LaRavia, Huerter and Westbrook are all legitimate contributors from the past season now on the team. Thomas Bryant, Trendon Watford, and Dominick Barlow are all capable big men who can fill in whenever needed, and each had some impressive showings this past year. Factor in another year of development from the Sixers' recent draft picks, as well as a few promising young prospects in Penda and Stirtz, and the team is in a far better place to succeed right now than they were previously. After this season, moving on from George is also significantly more feasible, allowing the currently 36-year-old George one more season to prove that he deserved the max contract he was handed.
MORE: Could the Sixers actually trade Joel Embiid?
