Philadelphia 76ers
New Year's Resolution: Reemerge as a contender in the East
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to point out that the Philadelphia 76ers have had a disastrous start to the season. Joel Embiid has missed a huge chunk of the season thus far and Paul George has been in and out of the lineup. Because of that, it's no surprise that the Sixers have struggled out of the gate. However, with as much hype as the Sixers entered this season with, that's no excuse. Heading into the second half of this season, there's one thing that is clear for the Sixers - they must solve their issues to save the season.
Heading into 2025, the big New Year's resolution for the Sixers should be to reemerge as a contender in the East down the stretch. It may be too much to expect the Sixers to climb their way back into the top 3 of the East standings but they should be able to enter the postseason as one of the most dangerous teams on paper. At this point, that's better than the alternative for the Sixers. This roster, even despite the injury to Jared McCain, is still immensely talented.
Phoenix Suns
New Year's Resolution: Hit an injury-free patch of the season
It's been a depressing start to the season for the Phoenix Suns for multiple reasons. First, it’s because they got off to such a good start when the team was completely healthy at the beginning of the year. Through the first couple of weeks of the season, the Suns had one of the best records in the league and looked like a team that had finally begun to solve their previous issues. They looked like a team that had to capability to emerge as a championship contender in the West. Since then, though, as the injuries have settled in, the opposite has happened for the Suns.
Heading into the new year, the big resolution for this team would be to hit an injury-free patch of the season. Even though the Suns can’t do much to control the injury bug, that’s what this team has to be hoping for in 2025. If the Suns are going to have any shot at breaking through and winning a title with this core, it will largely be because of a clean bill of health.