The Philadelphia 76ers were swept in the second round of the playoffs a year ago by the Knicks. After that happened, they decided to get to work. They decided to trade for Jaylen Brown and signed LeBron James. Those two players add incredible value to the starting lineup.
Philadelphia still has Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey leading the team, as well. Despite the new talent on the team, one writer believes the Sixers will only be a play-in team this year. He has them finishing seventh in the Eastern Conference for an unsurprising reason.
76ers Predicted to Finish Seventh in the Eastern Conference by Pundit
John Hollinger of The Athletic is predicting that the 76ers will finish seventh in the Eastern Conference standings. He cites Embiid’s worrisome health as the biggest issue.
“Embiid alone makes this a difficult team to project. Will he play 20 games or 70? Will he look like the guy who terrorized Boston in the final two games of that first-round series last spring, or the one who shuffled through much of the season on one leg and reverted again versus the Knicks?”
Hollinger doesn’t think it’s just an Embiid issue, though. He thinks the whole team has a high variance, which makes them hard to project in a very tough East.
“Beyond Embiid’s health and the extremely shaky depth behind him, metrics don’t rate any of the three perimeter stars as top-10-caliber talents, even if two of them made All-NBA a season ago and the third is a top-two player of all time,” Hollinger writes.
Injuries have been a story throughout Embiid’s career. He has played in just 96 games in the last three years. The Sixers also have very little depth behind him at the backup center spot, which is an issue. James is likely going to miss several games this season at his age, too.
The Sixers are Leaning Into Shot Creation From Their New Players
With Brown and James on the roster, they are leaning into both players being able to create shots for other players on the roster. Brown was the driver of the Celtics‘ offense last season when Jayson Tatum was out for most of the year with his Achilles injury.
James can’t be the focal point of the offense at his age, but he is still one of the best passers in the history of the league. James is also still one of the scariest players to go against in transition. Both players will add immense value to the offense right away.
Last season, the 76ers finished with the 16th-rated offense in the NBA. In order for them to win the East, that number likely has to be in the top eight. They believe that the additions of Brown, James, and Anfernee Simons off the bench will help them reach that bar, no matter what Hollinger thinks.
76ers Predicted to Finish as Play-In Team Despite Talent Upgrades