Our beloved Philadelphia 76ers begin their season this evening in Boston, tipping off at 8:00 p.m. against the Celtics, who eliminated the Sixers in 5 games in last season’s Eastern Conference Semifinals. These Sixers have the loftiest expectations the team has faced in a long time now. The over/under for their win total this season is set at 54.5, tied for second-highest in the Eastern Conference, and there has been talk about Joel Embiid as a dark horse MVP Candidate. So without further ado, here’s what we can realistically expect from the Philadelphia 76ers this season:
Individual Performances
The Sixers’ success last year came on the backs of a number of great individual performances. Embiid cemented himself as a legitimate top-3 center while proving that he could stay healthy for a majority of the season. Ben Simmons won Rookie of the Year with a season for the ages (and yes, he was absolutely a rookie and if you think otherwise you’re wrong). Robert Covington was named to the NBA All-Defense First Team. Plenty of other players made significant contributions, whether it was JJ Redick helping as a desperately-needed jump shooter, Dario Saric doing any number of things well, or TJ McConnell providing a spark off the bench. So what can we expect from this year’s team?
-I think Embiid and Simmons will both have even better years this year than last year. After having to focus last offseason on recovering from injuries, both players had a chance to fully commit themselves to developing different aspects of their game. This year, it wouldn’t be crazy to see Embiid average 25 points and 10 rebounds per game (he finished last year averaging 23 and 11) while Simmons will again flirt with averaging a triple double (he finished last year with 15.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game).
-After performing poorly at the start of last season and then missing a majority of it due to injury, expect to see Markelle Fultz bounce back to some degree. Fultz was the most highly-touted prospect of the 2017 NBA Draft, which is why the Sixers traded up to take him with the first overall pick. He had some issues both mentally and physically, but spent the offseason working with renowned shooting coach Drew Hanlen. I expect Fultz to turn into the playmaker the Sixers thought he was going to be when they first drafted him.
-Covington did not do too well in last years’ playoff series vs. the Celtics, and he has heard about it all summer long. I expect him to use the criticisms toward him as motivation, and I don’t think it’s far-fetched to see Cov as a Defensive Player of the Year Candidate.
Wins/Losses
If everything goes according to plan, I expect the Sixers to easily pass the 54.5 win mark set by Vegas. The problem is that things rarely go exactly according to plan. Embiid is injury-prone, and we really don’t know exactly how far Fultz has come (his gym footage from the summer looks good and the preseason was promising, but we still don’t know how well he’ll perform in real game action). The Celtics were the first team to effectively stop Simmons in the playoffs last year, and other teams might follow their blueprint. However, if things do go at least semi-according to plan, Things can go a lot of different ways, but I say the Sixers juuuuust barely make the over at 56 wins.
Playoff Seeding/Performance
As of now, it looks like the top three teams in the East are going to be the Sixers, the Celtics, and the Toronto Raptors. The Celtics are the favorites to win the conference after coming within a game of making the Finals last year without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward (who are both now back from injury), and the Raptors added Kawhi Leonard, who finished in the top three in MVP voting in consecutive years before missing most of last year with the Spurs. I think the Sixers will end up with the second seed behind the Celtics and ahead of the Raptors. This would set up a second-round playoff series between the Sixers and the Raptors, which I think the Sixers would win in six games. I think the Sixers’ season ends in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Celtics. It would be tough to end the season against Boston for the second straight year, but the Celtics are too deep and the Sixers don’t quite have what it takes to beat them in a playoff series yet. There are a ton of big-name free agents in the 2019 offseason, which is where the Sixers could find their edge over the Celtics, but for now, Boston is too talented and deep.
Trust the Process. #HereTheyCome
ReJoyce 