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With Joel Embiid at the peak of his powers, the Philadelphia 76ers are doing all they can to maximize their window of contention. Daryl Morey acquired James Harden at the trade deadline last season and drastically improved the supporting cast in free agency.
Between a better-fitting supporting cast and a fully healthy Harden, the Sixers have their sights set on making a run at the NBA title. Fans have faith the team can pull it off, but for a totally different reason.
Last year was a special moment for the league as it celebrated its 75th anniversary. Now in the 76th season in NBA history, Sixers fans think destiny is on their team’s side as they look to capture their first title since 1983.
Sixers Among NBA Leaders in Title Equity
The main storyline for the Sixers this offseason was James Harden taking a pay cut to help the team improve in other areas. Because of this, Daryl Morey was able to land a pair of three-and-D veterans in Danuel House Jr. and P.J. Tucker. These signings, along with the acquisition of De’Anthony Melton on draft night, have made the Sixers a significantly deeper team.
While fans are using other reasonings to manifest a title for the Sixers, another metric backs up their chances of being a contender. Going off The Athletic’s recent tiering of the top 125 players in NBA currently, the Sixers are among the league leaders in title equity. The only team ahead of them is the reigning champion Golden State Warriors.
In these rankings, Joel Embiid landed in tier 1, James Harden is in tier 2, while Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris found themselves in tier 4.
Analyst Claims Current Sixers Are Best of Embiid Era
Following their flurry of moves this offseason, fans are not the only ones buying into the Sixers heading into next season. Many analysts have already begun dissecting the new-look squad, with one going as far as to make a case that this is the best team Joel Embiid has ever been a part of.
The Athletic’s Rich Hoffman recently dove into why the current Sixers might be the best of “The Process” era. One of the main reasons being that depth is no longer a major cause for concern.
One of the main reasons the Sixers lost to Miami was their ineffective bench play. With that in mind, their main offseason goal was to rebuild the depth lost in the Harden trade as last year’s deadline. Before touching on what those players provide, it should be noted that the Sixers added them without sacrificing any of their 2021-22 rotation. Green is the only exception, but he projects to be rehabbing his knee for most of the entire next season.
Only one group can rival the current group as Embiid’s best team. That being the 2019 squad featuring Jimmy Butler that fell just short of conference finals appearance due to a miracle shot from Kawhi Leonard. While that team had a loaded starting lineup, the glaring lack of depth behind them played a major factor in their downfall.
While the new-look Sixers still need to partake in an actual game together, a strong argument can be made that they are the best group of talent the team has ever put around its star big man.
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