PHILADELPHIA — The biggest takeaway from Tyrese Maxey, Kelly Oubre and others surveying the wreckage of the 76ers’ season was that it can’t get worse from here. Statistically speaking, a 24-58 record after Sunday’s 122-102 loss to Chicago in the finale is tough to top (or bottom?). The delug e of injuries and the nightly struggle to field a competent roster is something most of this group has never experienced before, and hopes never to again. “This is going to sound bad, but the one positive I do take away is, the only way we can go from here is up,” Maxey said. “I mean, honestly, it gives us something to build to. Everybody in this room, no matter if they come back here, if you’re not here, you should have a different type of edge about yourself. You should go into the summer with a lot to work on and a lot to prove, myself included.” A slew of players who haven’t seen the court in weeks surfaced Sunday. Without them, the 76ers succeeded in their mission to optimize draft odds, nosediving to a 5-31 finish to land with the fifth-worst record. That supplies a 64 percent chance of picking in the top six, thereby retaining a pick that otherwise conveys to Oklahoma City. To facilitate that, many veterans that might otherwise have played through injuries shut it down early to heal. Maxey, sporting a brace on his sprained right pinkie, is still a month away from resuming basketball activities. Eric Gordon, shut down since early February with a wrist injury that required surgery, has started dribbling and reckons he’s “ahead of schedule.” Paul George is working through his litany of ailments. His finger is no longer an issue, but his groin is “taking a little time,” while the knee that has hampered him since preseason is trending in the right direction. “I’m expecting to ramp up to a great summer and hitting the ground running,” George said. “There shouldn’t be any limitations for me in the future to train and get prepared for this next season.” Oubre still has discomfort in the right knee that has kept him out since early March. One of the most durable Sixers at 60 games played, he said he felt pain after being shut down, and he also plans to spend the summer reconciling his shooting form from past hand surgeries. Andre Drummond has only rest as a solution to the toe that limited him to 40 games. All of the injured 76ers spoke except for Joel Embiid, who is still recuperating from arthroscopic surgery on Wednesday in New York. Kyle Lowry, limited to 35 games primarily by a chronically bad hip, laughed at the question of what he wants to take from this season. “It was one of those seasons that you really don’t want to remember,” he shot back. • • • Oubre, Gordon and Drummond all hold player options for next season. When asked about their intentions, all expressed varying degrees of interest. Gordon demurred on the question, wanting to focus on getting healthy. Oubre was more definitive, though with wiggle room. “I’m a Philadelphia 76er,” he said. “I’m blessed to be a part of this organization. I’m here in front of you guys right now, so taking it day-by-day. This is a business, but at the end of the day, I’m happy, and I like to finish what I start.” Drummond also has his mind fixed on returning. “I feel like there’s more work to do, stuff that’s missing that I haven’t completed here yet, which is winning at the highest level,” he said. “And I still feel that way now. I think we still have the pieces to win at the highest level, and I think I can be a big part of that, too. So my plan is to come back.” • • • Lowry, 39, isn’t ready to hang up his sneakers yet, especially after a season as difficult as this. “I walked into the building today, and it was kind of a little bit sad, because we all thought that we would be playing a little bit longer, and we thought they had a good team on paper,” the Cardinal Dougherty and Villanova product said. “But you’ve still got to put it down on the floor. So for me, I do want to play one more year and at a level where I can compete and play and help a team.” • • • One player who will be back is Quentin Grimes. Acquired from Dallas in February, he averaged 22.4 points in 27 games and showed enough promise with his on-ball defense and off-ball playmaking to be a complement to Maxey and Jared McCain. “I think he was a real bright spot,” Daryl Morey said. “We’re excited for him to come back. We’ve positioned ourselves to bring him back. He had multiple 40-point performances. His defense, we think, really fits well with Tyrese.” “I’m very comfortable here already, with the coaching staff, my teammates,” Grimes said. “I feel like I’ve been here really the whole year, playing with the guys the past two months. So I could definitely see myself being here in the future.” • • • One success in 2025 whose future is uncertain is Guerschon Yabusele. The Frenchman was signed on a one-year flyer from Real Madrid after five years out of the NBA and became an indispensable piece. Slowed by a knee injury late in the season, he averaged 11 points, 3.7 rebounds and shot 38 percent from 3-point range in 70 games (43 starts). He is an unrestricted free agent with an opportunity for a career-changing contract. “I’m pretty excited, and at the same time, I’m going to take my time to really see what the options are going to be,” Yabusele said. “What’s the playing time going to be, this is also one of the main concerns. But I’m really not putting in any pressure onto myself,. I’m just going there trying to have some fun and really look for the solution for me.” • • • The 76ers made one last signing Sunday, inking Isaiah Mobley for the finale. Mobley averaged 17.4 points and 7.9 rebounds in 22 games with Delaware. A second-round pick in 2022, he played in 22 games from 2022-24 with Cleveland. He had six points and five assists in 17 minutes Sunday. Mobley is the 30th 76er to play in a game this season. The NBA record is 33, by Memphis in 2023-24. Part of the reason for signing the 6-8 forward was Friday’s departure of Colin Castleton, who upon the expiration of his 10-day contract signed a standard deal with Toronto. ...read more read less