The team improved 18 games after finishing with a league worst 10 wins in 2016. The season would have been the rookie season for number one overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft Ben Simmons, but a broken foot injury sidelined him for the whole season. It would be the team's fourth straight season where a top prospect of theirs would be sidelined for an entire season due to an injury (the 76ers previously dealt with former center Nerlens Noel being out in the 2013–14 NBA season and Joel Embiid being out for two straight seasons before this one). However, Embiid, who was previously drafted 3rd in the 2014 draft, played in his first season after suffering multiple foot injuries before later being out for the rest of the season after playing a promising 31 games throughout the season. Also, it was the first season of draft and stash prospect Dario Šarić, who was also taken in the 2014 NBA draft. The 2016 season was also the first time in three years the Sixers made a splash in NBA free agency by adding guards Jerryd Bayless, Sergio Rodríguez and veteran Gerald Henderson Jr. to the team.