2016-17 Record: 28-54 (14th in East)
Players Added: Markelle Fultz (Draft) Furkan Korkmaz (2016 Draft Pick), Amir Johnson (FA), J.J. Redick (FA), James McAdoo (FA), James Blackmon Jr. (FA), Jacob Pullen (FA)
Players Lost: Alex Poythress (FA), Sergio Rodriguez, (FA), Tiago Splitter (FA), Gerald Henderson (FA)
Projected Team MVP: Joel Embiid
We saw glimpses last year of how good Embiid can be when he’s healthy. But of course, that’s the big thing — Embiid has played in 31 games since getting taken third overall in the 2014 NBA Draft. All of those games came last year. Now, he was amazing in those 31 games, but it’s still a very limited sample size and his season ended due to a knee injury.
The good news about the knee injury — well, at least to the extent it could be good news — is that it was not something that exacerbated the foot injury that cost him his first two years in the league. The Sixers also expect that he’ll be ok, even if they are being ultra conservative with his recovery from the injury.
But if Embiid is able to come back, stay on the court, and build on the success he had last season, look out. In 25.4 minutes per game, Embiid averaged 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game on 46.6 percent shooting from the field and 36.7 percent shooting from three, which is hilarious, because he’s a seven footer. With more talent around him, Embiid might be able to establish himself as one of the best big men in the league.
Well, as long as he can stay healthy.
Team X-Factor: Ben Simmons
The Sixers have Embiid, a former top-3 pick who looks like a star. They have Markelle Fultz, the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft and a player whose game has gotten compared to James Harden.
With those two getting so much attention, last year’s No. 1 pick, a 6’11 point guard who was the most hyped prospect in some time. Simmons missed all of last season due to a foot injury, and unlike Embiid, it sounds like he’s going to be good to go with no restrictions from the start of the team’s training camp.
Simmons has all the talent in the world, and save for the fact that he’s never been a great jump shooter, he’s got just about everything you’d want in a basketball player. His size, skill set, and ability to impact a game on both ends of the court is something that could make him one of the best players in the league in the not-too-distant future.
If Embiid is out, Simmons could become the face of this team and create a 1-2 punch with Fultz that makes the Sixers an absolute nightmare. If Embiid plays, the trio would make up the most exciting young core in the league. But no matter what, Simmons’ ability as a playmaker whose court vision is best described as “prodigious” could unlock a whole new dimension to Philadelphia’s offense.
Best Case Scenario: Everyone stays healthy. That’s the best case scenario, really. Everyone on the Sixers is able to stay healthy and put together a very solid season that builds a ton of optimism towards the future.
Embiid build on last season, and Fultz and Simmons finish 1-2 in Rookie of the Year voting in some order based on the former’s ability to score and the latter’s ability to make plays. All of the pieces around them fill their roles perfectly — Saric is among the top sixth men in the league, Covington’s 3-and-D ability finally gets the praise it deserves, and Redick/Johnson show that they’re not just in Philadelphia to chase paychecks.
As for Jahlil Okafor, the young big man gets flipped for an unprotected 2019 first-round draft pick, which turns into a top-5 selection.
Philadelphia gets into the postseason as a dangerous 6-seed that stuns the Washington Wizards in the first round. They make it to the conference semis, where they get taken down by the Celtics, but it takes seven brutal games that leave Boston battered and make Philly one of the most feared teams in the league heading into 2018-19.
Brett Brown shows off his coaching chops now that he’s at the helm of a team that has a ton of talent. Raw talent, but talent nonetheless. Sam Hinkie shows up at a few games and giggles a ton, partly because of the team’s success, partly because a crazed Sixers fan asks if they can build a statue of him outside of their home. He says yes.
Worst Case Scenario: Embiid cannot stay on the court, and Simmons shows a ton of rust from missing a year. With all the attention falling on Fultz, the rookie guard gets overwhelmed, even if he has the occasional really good game.
While this is happening with the team’s core, Saric isn’t able to build on his 2016-17 campaign, while the hype around Covington is for naught. The team isn’t able to get anything back for Okafor, so he sticks around and we’re treated to another year of trade rumors surrounding the young big man. Defenses get to focus on Redick, and he looks like a massive waste of money for one year until he bolts to join the Brooklyn Nets next summer.
Ultimately, the Sixers kind of just limp to the finish line with another bottom of the barrel finish in the East. Brown finally gets fired, and in an attempt to shake things up, the Sixers move one of their young stars for an established veteran who doesn’t fit in with the rest of the roster, moving the team into the constant state of hoops purgatory that Hinkie wanted to avoid when The Process kicked off.
