The 2024-25 NBA season was an unmitigated disaster for the Philadelphia 76ers. A team with championship aspirations, thanks to the new addition of Paul George in the offseason, struggled to get on track and fell apart due to inconsistent play and injuries.

The Sixers had a 5-15 record through the first 20 games and could never recover. Joel Embiid only played in 19 games, while Tyrese Maxey and Paul George only suited up in 52 and 41 contests, respectively.

Also, first-year guard Jared McCain, who looked like a potential contender for Rookie of the Year, was shut down for the season with a left knee injury (torn meniscus).

With their “Big 3” and No. 16 overall pick sidelined, the next best thing that the Sixers could do was play out the string with a host of young players, vets, and 10-day contract players in hopes of keeping their first-round pick.

As the Sixers entered the regular season’s final weeks, fans anxiously watched the standings to see if Philadelphia could increase its odds of capturing a top-6 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Given how the regular season played out, the Sixers getting a potential lottery pick would inject new energy into the fanbase and change their future outlook. That said, there were two scenarios Sixers fans had in mind heading into the NBA draft lottery.

In the first scenario, Philadelphia somehow drops to the seventh spot in the lottery, giving its first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

That would not be ideal for either the team or the fan base. It also would force the Sixers to possibly make some tough decisions in a year or two around their star vets (Embiid and George).

However, in the second scenario, the Sixers would keep their first-round pick and get a young player to plug into this roster who could grow with Maxey and McCain.

Luckily for Philadelphia, the second scenario came to fruition. The Sixers jumped up to the third overall pick, which they had a 10.6 percent chance of landing heading into the draft lottery.

At No. 3 overall, it puts the Sixers in the perfect position to take the best player available after Cooper Flagg and potentially Dylan Harper.

Philadelphia could take Harper’s college teammate, Ace Bailey, who has a ton of upside, and averaged 17.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game at Rutgers this past season.

On the other hand, the Sixers could take Baylor’s V.J. Edgecomb, who has upside and athleticism to be a two-way player at the shooting guard spot. Edgecomb averaged 15.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game with the Bears.

However, if those options aren’t appealing to the Sixers, they could go after Tre Johnson from the University of Texas or Kon Knueppel, Flagg’s teammate at Duke. Both guys could be available in a potential trade down from the third spot.

Knueppel (40.6 percent) and Johnson (39.7 percent) are outstanding three-point shooters who would be great additions to the roster for the present and future.

For a team that had the eighth-best championship odds (+1400) coming into this year, no one thought the Sixers would be picking within the top-3 in the 2025 NBA Draft.

However, luck finally went the Sixers’ way after an ugly season. The Sixers’ brass knows their window with Embiid and George isn’t long, so they must start planning for the future. What better way to do that than with a top-3 pick?

A top-3 pick, Maxey, McCain, Justin Edwards, Adem Bona, and possibly Quentin Grimes (restricted free agent) isn’t a bad way to go into the future. The last two times the Sixers had the No. 3 pick, they took Jahlil Okafor (2015) and Joel Embiid (2014).

While the Okafor selection didn’t work out, Embiid did, and it helped this franchise reach new heights. The Sixers might not get a generational talent at No. 3 in the 2025 NBA draft, but that player can be an integral part of what happens with this team in 2-to-5 years.

[Photo courtesy of Mitchell Leff-Getty Images]