NBA 2K25 is just around the corner, which means it’s time for fans and players to discuss each player’s rating. These notes mean a lot to playersand fans are invested in ensuring that their favorite players’ gaming abilities match their real-life skills. This includes The Philadelphia 76ers and their die-hard fans.
Let’s take a look at the 76ers’ roster and identify notes deserve an adjustment in this year’s edition of the popular video game series.
Tyrese Maxey at 89th overall
An 89 is a blatant disrespect to Tyrese Maxey. He’s a rising star for the 76ers and deserves at least a 90s grade. 90 would barely be enough, but at least it would be symbolically significant. In reality, his grade should be at least 92 or 93.
His athleticism alone should rank in the upper half of the 90s, and his shooting is good enough to reach the lower 90s. Maxey is a deadly sniper from the outside, and he has developed a good bag of tricks to create space off the dribble. One of the most valuable skills in all of basketball is the ability to create space and take a free throw at any time. This makes a player a legitimate threat to the defense and helps keep an offense from consistently getting bogged down.
Maxey has one of the best layups in the entire NBA. He may not be quite ready to challenge Kyrie Irving as the league’s best finisher, and he doesn’t quite have the explosiveness above the rim that players like Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook possessed. Still, his first step and end-to-end speed might be the best of any player since Rose was in his prime with the Chicago Bulls.
Maxey can easily get around defenders and seems to have limitless creativity when it comes to deceiving defenders and keeping them off balance. Maxey is equally effective at finishing with both hands and he can score with his wrong foot without any problem. While he is not very good at vertical jumps, Maxey has impressive hang time and he knows how to use this skill to shoot from different angles, making it harder for defenders to time their blocking attempts.
Paul George at 89 overall
Much like Maxey, Paul George has a unique skill set that makes him far more valuable to the 76ers than these rankings would suggest. George is an elite defender who can pressure even the league’s top scorers. He’s also a dynamic scorer in his own right who can create on his own when the defense tightens up and his team’s offense collapses. George’s high-end athleticism and three-point shooting are just a few of the many reasons the 76ers signed him as a free agent.
George is an expert at spacing the court as a secondary option to give his team’s other ball handlers a chance to make plays. However, he is also quite comfortable taking charge of the game. He can call his own number and put the team on his back. George uses his athleticism as well as his bag of ball handling tricks to create separation from defenders and find space to make a good shot.
George should be rated between 90 and 95 for athleticism, 95 and 95 for inside and outside shooting, and 95 and 95 for field goal shooting. Even at 34, George’s abilities merit a 90-95 rating. Overall, a cumulative rating of around 92 or 93 seems about right for a dynamic player like Paul George.
Joel Embiid’s Dunker with an Overall Rating of 80
The developers were far from living up to that mark. When it comes to dunks, there are very few players in the league who can claim to be as dominant as Joel EmbiidWhile the Sixers big man may not be able to do leaping dunks from the free throw line or 360-degree slams like some elite forwards, Embiid makes up for it in other ways.
Embiid has incredible athleticism for his size and is capable of some truly thunderous dunks. He can throw the ball off the backboard and also drop tomahawks. Embiid’s two-handed slams can feel like an earthquake if you’re in the arena. When Embiid gains momentum, he’s like a runaway freight train that can absolutely decimate defenders who dare challenge him at the rim.
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Ricky Council IV Dunks 75 Total
As with Embiid, it’s unclear what the development team was thinking when they made that note.
The most likely explanation for this rating is simply that it was decided in advance not to give Ricky Council IV a decent overall rating. Placing his dunk where it deserved would have necessarily increased his cumulative rating.
However, this is a completely unfair way to rate a player. Developers should not decide in advance what overall rating they want to give, and then rate each of the players’ attributes in order to reach that predetermined total. Instead, the better approach should be to rate each element of the player’s overall performance individually and fairly, and then let the overall rating fall where it falls.
Council IV is an explosive wing who can dunk with the best of them, and his dunk rating should be at least 85. This rating is completely wrong.
