If the NBA does ever return, the Sixers currently sit tied for the 6th seed with the Indiana Pacers, but is there any shot at a championship run this year?
Hot take: I’m gonna say no. There is very little chance the Sixers will have home court advantage at any point, plus there is a clear disconnect between the front office, coaching staff, and the players on the court. But how close are the 76ers to returning to the Finals?
Assuming this is Brett Brown’s final year in Philadelphia, the Sixers would be clearing the slate on everything Brown was attempting to implement over the past seven years. They have a lot of bad contracts for players that don’t really fit together. I’m not saying the Sixers are a head coaching change from figuring this thing out, but is it that crazy to think?
After the Al Horford signing and the Josh Richardson trade, the Sixers were thought to be able to “sleepwalk to the Finals”… James Ennis’ words, not mine.
After a disastrous road record and a phenomenal home record, questions were raised about the 2019-2020 76ers.
Yes, the Sixers tried to build a bully ball team in the year 2020, but the team has shown flashes at home of what they can be if they could finally put the pieces together and figure it out. They beat the top 4 teams in the West at the Wells Fargo Center, the Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets and Jazz. In the East, they’ve taken 3 of 4 games against the division rival Celtics and they beat the Bucks and Raptors at home.
The team has legit talent. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons are locks for the All-Star team every year. Tobias Harris is a solid player. Say what you want about Al Horford, but the guy is still a league vet. They have great players who are on the rise namely Josh Richardson and Matisse Thybulle.
Maybe under a different regime, this team would have a better shot to shine. They lack discipline, from Ben not shooting, to Joel’s trash talk, to the team’s obvious struggles on the road.
You can criticize the front office all you want (and I have), but the talent is there: it isn’t crazy to think they could be back to the Finals in the next year or two.
Featured Image: @76ersphoto
