It was not exactly a quiet offseason for the Philadelphia 76ers. With GM Bryan Colangelo leaving the team after a scandal about some Twitter burner accounts and first-round pick Zhaire Smith suffering a foot injury (a Philadelphia 76ers rookie suffering a foot injury? Doesn’t sound new to me), the Sixers are ready for another season in which they’ll try to confirm that ‘The Process’ actually worked. Last year, Philadelphia reached the Eastern Conference semifinals and lost to the Boston Celtics in six games, despite the fact that Boston missed several key players. Coach Brett Brown, who basically acted as the GM during the summer, knows that his team can go even further this season in an Eastern Conference without LeBron James and with only the Boston Celtics as the real ‘sure thing’ of the pack.
STAR HUNTING
Before the beginning of the free agency, Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown said in a press conference that his team was ”star hunting”, because, at the end of the day, in the NBA you have more chances to win the title if you have multiple stars on your team. From that perspective, the Sixers’ offseason can be considered a disappointing one. They met with LeBron James, but he decided to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers. Paul George opted to re-sign with the Thunder, and Kawhi Leonard was traded to the Toronto Raptors. Of course, after the really first good season in years, it wasn’t so easy to attract a big-time free agent to Philly, also because historically Philadelphia has never been a popular landing spot for free agents. After failing to reach a top free agent, the Sixers switched to Plan B and decided to bring back the core of last season. They re-signed both J.J. Redick and Amir Johnson to one-year deals and they traded for a couple of experienced players to come off the bench, Wilson Chandler and Mike Muscala. Yeah, maybe some fans are still disappointed for not having LeBron James playing alongside ‘Fresh Prince’ Ben Simmons but the Sixers confirmed themselves as one of the main forces in the Eastern Conference. Plus, they will still have enough cap space to sign a big-time free agent next summer, when guys such as Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Jimmy Butler will be available.
X FACTOR
After one of the most peculiar injuries in the recent history of the league and a rookie season where he only played a handful of games, there are still a lot of expectations around Markelle Fultz. The number one pick of the 2017 NBA Draft is coming off a summer full of work and anxiety about his jump shot. The University of Washington alum has worked the entire summer with shooting coach Drew Hanlen and seems finally healthy, both physically and mentally. As shown in a video on The Player’s Tribune, Fultz’s shooting mechanic looks better than last season. Someone could argue that the starting point is still too low, but the release is definitely quicker. Having Fultz available from the beginning of the season and with much more serenity around him will be a big boost for the Sixers. They could definitely use a player, aside from Ben Simmons, capable of creating for himself and his teammates off the dribble, something that Philadelphia clearly missed last season (especially during the postseason). Markelle Fultz, if healthy, could really become the Philadelphia 76ers X-factor for the upcoming season.
EXPECTATIONS
With LeBron James now out of the picture, the Eastern Conference looks even more uncertain than before. The Boston Celtics will have both Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward back, confirming itself as the main force of the Conference. But behind the Celtics, there is room for everyone, including Philadelphia. The Sixers definitely have the potential to be the main opponent to Boston in the Conference with the Toronto Raptors, and newly acquired Kawhi Leonard, and the Washington Wizards. The duo formed by Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid remains one of the most intriguing in the entire league and if they stay healthy, there’s no doubt that the 76ers will be a tough opponent for every team in the league. However, most importantly, this season Philadelphia will need to learn how to be more effective in the key moments and how to transform their game in some situations. This is especially vital when Simmons or Embiid do not have their best nights. Following a season in which they show to the entire league that believing in ‘The Process’ wasn’t so crazy, the Philadelphia 76ers now need to assure the entire NBA that they’re for real and not just a one-hit wonder.
