The 2008–09 Philadelphia 76ers season was the 70th season of the franchise, 60th in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team finished with a .500 record. Following a 9–14 start, the team fired Maurice Cheeks and replaced him with Director of Player Personnel Tony Dileo on an interim basis. The team went 32–27 after the change and made the postseason. Two things memorable about the season is that the team returned to the classic uniform style the team wore in the 1980s, and the Sixers defeated the Chicago Bulls in a game played at The Spectrum, the team's home from 1967 to 1996. The team signed Elton Brand to a five-year $79 million contract.

Key dates

Summary

2008 NBA draft

On June 26, the Sixers selected power forward/center Marreese Speights from Florida with the 16th overall pick. Their second round pick was previously traded to the Utah Jazz on June 7, 2009, for a second round pick in the 2009 NBA draft.

Free agency

The Sixers headed into the off-season with free agents Louis Amundson, Calvin Booth, Herbert Hill, Andre Iguodala, Kevin Ollie, Shavlik Randolph and Louis Williams. On June 24, the Sixers extended qualifying offers to key restricted free agents Andre Iguodala and Louis Williams. The Sixers brought in Atlanta Hawks restricted free agent Josh Smith on July 3 for a tour of Philadelphia but left the city without signing an offer sheet. On July 9 after denouncing their rights to their unrestricted free agents, and trading Rodney Carney and Calvin Booth, the Sixers signed 2-time NBA All-Star Power Forward Elton Brand of the Los Angeles Clippers to a 5-year contract reportedly worth 78–82 Million dollars. After the Brand signing, the first weeks of July were quiet in terms of free agency. Rumors spread that key restricted free agents Andre Iguodala and Louis Williams were being pursued by the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors respectively. On July 24 it was announced by Philly.com that the Sixers had come to terms with Point Guard Royal Ivey of the Milwaukee Bucks for a 2-year league minimum contract. The deal was finalized and signed on Monday July 28. Also on July 28, Philly.com released that the Sixers had come to terms with Shooting Guard Kareem Rush of the Indiana Pacers. The deal was finalized and signed on Tuesday July 29. After news reports stated that Louis Williams rejected a $3.9M deal from the Sixers and he was talking to the Cleveland Cavaliers, he signed a 5-year deal on July 31. On August 12, ESPN announced that the 76ers had come to terms with restricted free agent Andre Iguodala on a reported 6-year 80 million dollar deal. After several days, it was officially announced on August 18 that Iguodala had signed the deal. On August 19 Philly.com announced that veteran backup big man Theo Ratliff had agreed to terms on veterans league minimum 1 year 1.4 million dollar deal with the 76ers. Ratliff had previously played with Philadelphia from 1997 to 2001. Ratliff was named an All-Star in 2001, but was unable to play because of an injury. On September 1, 2008, following his placement on waivers Donyell Marshall agreed to terms with the Philadelphia 76ers for a one-year contract for the league minimum $1,262,275 (for veterans with at least 10 years of experience). The story was first reported by The Philadelphia Daily News

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Standings

Game log

15,750 11,717 19,651 10,100 15,103 16,407 12,839 18,093 12,742 13,385 10,111 13,474 13,556 10,848 14,985 18,624 13,561 20,485 19,119 22,076 13,096 15,550 20,562 15,865 11,538 18,323 14,599 18,624 19,155 19,911 14,021 20,327 18,797 14,858 13,381 14,235 15,079 14,561 18,739 19,408 14,503 19,239 16,131 15,544 15,528 17,783 16,831 10,699 17,216 16,797 12,812 13,259 15,979 19,600 13,236 16,505 19,763 19,703 14,299 14,458 18,738 17,292 17,563 20,100 18,997 18,422 19,596 12,943 20,620 16,965 19,098 22,076 18,256 17,640 19,832 13,345 16,499 20,791 20,484 18,018 17,752 20,562

Playoffs

First round

In the first round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs, the sixth seeded Philadelphia 76ers were paired with the third seed Southeast Division champions and eventual Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic in a best-of-seven series. The Sixers managed to split the series with the Magic at two games a piece after four games, but the Magic went on to win what would be the final two games of the series to eliminate the Sixers.

Game log

17,461 17,461 16,492 16,464 17,461 16,691

Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

Awards

Records

Injuries and surgeries

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Additions

Subtractions