It’s almost time. In a month, the NBA season will be starting up once again on October 28th. So with their only being a month until the first tipoff of the 2015-16 regular season, it’s time to preview everything in preperation.
We’re power ranking the top 30 teams in the NBA and we’re starting at the bottom. First up, the rebuilding Philadelphia 76ers.
Once again, the Sixers found a way to confuse their fans for just about the third consecutive offseason. This ‘rebuilding process’ started in the summer of 2013 and since then, there hasn’t been much to talk about on their roster but, there is some bright spots. They drafted Jahlil Okafor over the summer and while his defense is questionable there’s no doubting in his offensive talents. Pairing him up with Nerlens Noel could be a problem for opposing interior players.
As the team stands right now, heading into training camp minus Gerald Wallace, they have a young team with two standout big men in Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor. There’s another big man waiting in the wings in Joel Embiid but, he’s not going to be around this season so let’s just leave him out of this. In their backcourt, Tony Wroten is slated to be their starting point guard and Nik Stauskas was traded from the Sacramento Kings to Philly in the offseason in a head-scratching move by the Kings. His rookie year in Sacramento was very disappointing and he admits that but hopefully the former lottery pick and turn it around in year two.
Quite possibly their best player on the perimeter going into this season is Robert Covington. Noel and Okafor are going to be the focus of the offense in the paint but Covington will be the guy looked at to make some plays. He has a good three point shot and is also fitted with a big frame which helps him get to the line and defend very well on the perimeter.
The rest of the roster is just, strange, to put it nicely. Kendall Marshall and Isaiah Canaan are expected to backup Wroten and Hollis Thompson will battle J.P. Tokoto for minutes as the reserve shooting guard. Jerami Grant and Jakarr Sampson are young, athletic forwards who will play in relief of Covington and who could also be looked at to play some stretch four, especially Sampson.
The oldest man on the squad is Carl Landry – who was also sent to Philly in the Nik Stauskas trade – and he’ll be the primary backup for both Noel and Okafor. Furkan Aldemir will also be in that rotation but it’s not really known how his game is translating in the NBA. He’s kind of an unknown like most of their players.
The Sixers are just weird. To sum it up, they will be bad. On the bright side, Jahlil Okafor is a favorite to win the ‘Rookie of the Year’ award and they also have the marketing darling known as ‘Sauce Castillo’ on their squad now so taco nights in the Wells Fargo Center should be awesome. They will have another crop of top picks and hopefully next season for them they can Embiid back and they can really start to do some damage but for the 2015-16 season, prepare for Philadelphia to maybe get 15 wins, if they’re lucky.
