December 31, 2024
Rob Gray/Imagn Images
The Sixers need to do everything they can to keep Joel Embiid healthy in 2025.
The new year can present a clean slate for everyone, or a foundation to keep building on better.
That goes for the Philly sports teams, too, who each have their various goals and ambitions for the future, and at different points in progress.
Before the calendar makes the turn to 2025, here are some resolutions the Sixers, Eagles, Phillies, and Flyers can take going in to set up for (hopefully) as good of a year as possible...
The Sixers have been evening out since that brutal start to the season, when everything that could go wrong did. They're still 13-17 as of Tuesday, which leaves them far from in the clear, but they're right outside of the play-in picture now, have gone on a 9-3 tear through December, and while, yeah, no Jared McCain for a while hurts, guys like Caleb Martin are settling into their roles now after looking totally lost a month ago.
The Sixers have been putting in the work to climb out of the early (and massive) hole they dug for themselves. Just keep at it.
AND keep Joel Embiid as healthy as possible, because at the end of the day, this whole thing is hinged on him being able to play at full strength come late season and into the postseason.
If he can't do that, they're done.
The Eagles have it pretty straightforward.
They have Saquon Barkley as the NFL's best running back, and behind one of the league's strongest offensive lines. They have one of the best receiving duos in football between A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, with a dual-threat quarterback in Jalen Hurts who can keep the whole unit running and keep the opposition on their toes (despite the criticisms of his game).
They have a killer defense, and after this past week's win over Dallas, they have every possible advantage they realistically could've gained going into the playoffs – the NFC East title, the conference's No. 2 seed in the playoffs, and a Week 18 to rest the starters should they take it.
This team is good. They can win the Super Bowl. They just need to stay healthy and stay on their game.
MORE: The rushing record is in reach, but Saquon Barkley wants a banner
The Phillies are pretty straightforward, too.
Their contending window is open. They're out to win now. But the catch now is they've fallen short three years in a row, and have taken a step down the ladder with each passing season.
So it's not just about putting all their eggs in the one basket in front of them for the World Series anymore. It's about keeping that window open for as long as possible – because we've seen what happens when it does close for the Phillies. It can get dark for a long, long time.
The core – the very expensive core – is still there, but it's getting older, and inevitably, is going to start to shift within the next couple of years.
Bryce Harper isn't going anywhere, and neither are Trea Turner, Aaron Nola, or Zack Wheeler, but they're all in their 30s now, while other notable names like J.T. Realmuto, Kyle Schwarber, and Ranger Suárez will be up for free agency next winter.
The club can stand to undergo a bit of a youth movement in the near future, and that can start with top pitching prospect Andrew Painter, who already seems to be in the cards for a major-league debut at some point in 2025, and then positional prospects like Justin Crawford in the outfield and Aidan Miller at shortstop or third base in the year or two that follows.
The Phillies are a good ball club right now, but to stay good in the vein of the Yankees or the Dodgers (baseball's seemingly eternal contenders), there always has to be someone on the way.
MORE: The Philly teams' current (or next) title-winning windows?
The middle of the ice is the biggest hole in the Flyers' lineup right now and maybe the most pressing need of their rebuild as it currently stands.
They need center depth, and someone skilled enough to play right at the top and alongside Matvei Michkov as he develops, and ideally sooner rather than later.
Free agency will be tough because they're going to be cash-strapped for at least another year – and not to mention, teams don't typically let their top-line centers even come close to the open market anymore. Maybe something comes together on the trade market, and the draft is always at their disposal (with plenty of capital to work with this summer), but of course, the latter is going to take the longest to realize out of the three.
They have Jett Lucnahko in the system, having gotten him a look in the NHL already, and they'll have Sean Couturier long-term as a steady two-way checker.
But they're going to need more than that down the line, especially when it comes to offensive punch and pure goal-scoring.
One way or another, the Flyers need to find the guy.
MORE: Flyers need a center for Michkov, other thoughts
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