The Philadelphia 76ers will be looking to have a successful offseason following a disappointing 2024-25 season. The Sixers were expected to contend for a title, but instead, injuries took their toll and they were unable to have much success.
As the Sixers head into the offseason, they know they will have the No. 3 overall pick in the draft after the results of the lottery. They will be looking to make the right selection there while also hoping to retain some free agents as they hope to bounce back in the 2025-26 season.
In terms of their own free agents, the Sixers have 11 of them. While Sixers Wire already gave predictions for each free agent, now is the time to look at all 11 of them and go a little deeper on why the prediction was made for each player, with this focus being on Kelly Oubre Jr.
Oubre’s free agency
Free agency status: Player option for $8.1 million
2024-25 stats: 15.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.8 apg, 47% FG, 29.3% 3FG
Prediction: Stays
Reason for the prediction
For one, the Sixers themselves expect Oubre to exercise his player option and return. President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey and Co. fully expect the three on player options to return for the 2025-26 season. So, this one is fairly simple, but Oubre plays an important role in Philadelphia due to his versatility and scoring ability. There were a handful of games when the team was fully healthy when he made a difference. In those rare instances, he was able to step in and play a key role, such as crashing the glass for much-needed rebounds or knocking down 3s when he was open. While the overall 3-point percentage wasn’t good, he did seem to make them when it counted to give the Sixers a glimpse of what could be when healthy on the floor.
The Sixers have a lot of talent when healthy. Of course, that’s a big if for this group, but if Philadelphia were to “run it back” in a way, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. It would be bit of a gamble due to the injury history to both Joel Embiid and Paul George, but the Sixers could get right back into title contention with a couple of healthy seasons from those two for once.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Philadelphia 76ers free agency: What happens with Kelly Oubre Jr.?