Under new head coach Jim O'Brien, the team played mediocre basketball losing twelve of its first eighteen games.
At midseason, the team traded Williamson back to the Sacramento Kings for All-Star forward Chris Webber, and traded Glenn Robinson, who had not played this season due to tendinitis in his left ankle, to the New Orleans Hornets for Jamal Mashburn.
Webber struggled to adjust to his new surroundings, however, and Mashburn was already out for the entire season with a knee injury.
The team managed to win eight of its final ten games, finishing second in the Atlantic Division with a 43–39 record.
During the first round of the playoffs, the Sixers lost in five games to the defending champion Detroit Pistons.