The Sixers were simply outmatched by the Knicks during their seven-game semifinal series this week, which morphed into a four-game series as the Knicks came out with the sweep. New York moves on to the Eastern Conference finals and the bruised-and-battered Sixers now will seek to lick their wounds in the spring and figure out how to get better for 2026-27.
Certainly, the hope that arrived on the doorstep after finally defeating the Celtics in the playoffs in the first round was quickly extinguished by the reality revealed in the Knicks series–the reality that this team is not nearly deep enough or plan good enough to keep up with other contenders.
And, worse, there are not a whole lot of means available to the Sixers to make a quick turnaround. In sizing up the situation that Philadelphia general manager Daryl Morey is in now, former Nets executive Bobby Marks–now an ESPN analyst–was pretty blunt in his assessment. “It ain’t good kids. It’s not good,” he said.
Sixers Overpaying Stars
There are two ways to frame the problem for the Sixers, the first being the obvious one–the team is overpaying Joel Embiid, who can’t stay healthy enough to be anything close to worth his current contract. The presence of Paul George, who played well in the postseason but is not worth his contract, either (two years left, at $110 million), is a big issue, too.
But everyone knows that. The most unfortunate downstream effect, though, is talked about less–the Sixers can’t afford to keep their two top role players, Kelly Oubre and Quentin Grimes. The bench was lacking even with those guys on the roster. Without them, the Sixers would need to replace Oubre in the starting five and replacing Oubre would be strictly a chicken wire-and-bubble-gum operation.
Here’s how Marks sized up where the Sixers are now following the sweep against the Knicks:
“Remember, you’ve got Grimes, you’ve got Oubre as your free agents here. … Here’s your bench, and this is not good, kids: Terry, Edwards, Walker, Watford, Bona and Broome. Bona was the only guy that played in the playoffs. And we’re talking about fixing the bench. You’ve got $187 million in salary, you’re $14 million below the tax. …
“My concern with Philadelphia moving forward, certainly the bench is a major concern, when you have the unreliability of two of your three max players.”
Sixers Might Not Be Able to Justify Bringing Back Kelly Oubre
That’s all going to leave the Sixers with a difficult offseason decision–they can try to run it back, with some tweaks, but as things stand, this was a No. 7 seed that doesn’t show much sign of moving up in the near future. Will they try to re-sign role players even if it pushes them up into the first apron, and even if it just means another No. 7 seed next season?
Said Marks: “The question is, can you justify bringing back Oubre—I love Oubre, I think his a non-tax-payer midlevel exception, probably say the same thing about Grimes—but when you have 87% of your salary committed in three players, and then Edgecombe, can you justify bringing back both those guys, probably going into the apron, for a team that is outside the Top 6. Now, you can talk yourself into this being a Top 6 team when healthy, but that is a big, big if for Philadelphia here.”
As Marks put it, it ain’t good.
Sixers Given Dire Warning After NBA Playoff Sweep