Sixers’ Starting Five Ranked Amongst SI’s Top 100
On Thursday, September 12th, Rob Mahoney and Sports Illustrated released their Top 100 NBA players for 2020. Unsurprisingly, the 76ers are very well-represented throughout the list, having all of their starting five recognized as top-100 players.
The Sixers’ starting five was ranked in the following order, from lowest to highest.
Josh Richardson: 71
The ranking of Josh Richardson seems like an accurate representation of where JRich stands entering the 2019-20 season. Richardson’s defense will be crucial for Philadelphia in the upcoming season, however, his likely downtick in available field goal attempts from last year has cost him to slide to the bottom third of the rankings.
Tobias Harris: 49
Listing Tobias as the 49th-best player in the NBA seems like a slight toward Harris in this case. Tobias is a greater difference-maker than the likes of players like Gary Harris or Eric Bledsoe who are both ranked higher. The Sixers need Harris to play like a top-35 if they have any hope of reaching their ceiling this season.
Ben Simmons: 23
Ben Simmons came in at the 23rd spot, which seems fairly accurate for Simmons at this point in his career. Ranking him beside players such as Jrue Holiday (25) and Pascal Siakam (24) seems like a fair assessment ahead of the 2019-20 season. If Simmons is able to display any resemblance of a jump shot, he will likely see a drastic rise in next year’s rankings.
Al Horford: 18
This is not a typo. Sports Illustrated ranked Al Horford as the 18th-best player, a shockingly high evaluation of the Sixers’ new frontcourt weapon. While Horford is an incredibly talented passer and uses his high versatility to his advantage, it is a bit of a reach to rank him ahead of players like Bradley Beal (22) and Blake Griffin (19).
Joel Embiid: 7
Joel Embiid is currently the 6th best player in the NBA. SI currently has Joel ranked 7th behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James, Steph Curry, James Harden and Anthony Davis. Embiid is better than Anthony Davis, and their head to head matchups over the last two years support this.
A few additional players that 76ers’ fans are familiar with that received a spot in the top 100:
JJ Redick (67th)
Robert Covington (64th)
Jimmy Butler (11th)
Featured Image: ClutchPoints / Andrew Salmi
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