Figure 1 We have now reached the business end of the NBA season - Source: Pixabay
With the All-Star Break in the books and only around a third of the regular season to play, now is the time that NBA fans start to seriously think about how the playoffs may go. We have seen enough games to have a pretty good idea about which teams are serious contenders and which ones won’t even be enjoying postseason play.
If you check the Bovada LV sportsbook, you might find that the consensus is that the 76ers are something of an unknown quantity. Philly falls in between those two levels in the NBA at the moment, with VegasBetting.net a good source of information on what might happen in pro hoops in the rest of the regular season.
The Sixers haven’t managed to make it past the conference semifinals since 2001, when they lost in the finals to the Lakers. This is a team that didn’t make it to the postseason at all last year, after winning just 24 games. It really is difficult to confidently predict how well the 76ers will do, so can we really consider this team a contender this year?
Everything on Embiid
Sixers fans may be enjoying the new young core of the team, but there is no doubt that any real push for a title heavily relies on Joel Embiid doing his thing. Although the 31-year-old famously struggles with injuries, he is still central to any chance of success. The good news is that he is posting great numbers and playing games.
Embiid hasn’t played more than 70 games in a season in his entire career, and has not made it past the 60-game barrier since 2023. That means that we have to expect some kind of absence in the next few months. But he was playing at superstar level as the 76ers went into the break with a 30-24 record, and proving that he still has what it takes. Embiid needs to stay healthy for the Sixers to do well this year.
Young Guns
One reason that there are some Philly fans suggesting that the team should consider moving on from Embiid at the end of the season is that there is a very good young core of players coming through. Trading Embiid in the summer is probably a non-starter, but he might not be as crucial to future success as he has been up until now.
Both Tyrese Maxey and V.J. Edgecombe have shown that there is great potential in the Sixers roster, and a few more additions could push the team higher in the seedings. The rookie has adapted to the pro game better than even his backers could have predicted, while Maxey was named to the All-Star team and has become the most important player on the roster after Embiid.
Battle in the East
Even if the Sixers manage to keep Embiid fit and healthy and the young starting players continue to perform, the major caveat to Philly being a real contender this year is the strength of the Eastern Conference. While OKC might still be the favorite to actually win a championship, there is a real battle to be the East’s representative in the finals.
At the All-Star Break, the Sixers were behind Detroit, Boston, New York, Cleveland, and Toronto. There are other teams below Philly in the standings that could also force their way through as well, so a top-four playoff seed is far from guaranteed. There might not be an out-and-out Eastern runaway leader, but that just makes it even more difficult for the 76ers to make it through the pack.
Playoff History
It doesn’t really help looking at a team’s year-by-year history when predicting how well it will do in the present, but Philly’s recent playoff appearances have been far from successful. Losing in the conference semifinals has become an unwanted trend in the last few years, and that only bolsters the belief that the East in stacked with playoff contenders.
Missing out completely last year was a huge disappointment, but there is not a real belief that the Sixers would do much better now than the first-round loss to the Knicks it experienced in 2024. The current standings put the Sixers up against the Knicks again, and the New York team would probably be favorites to win that. The possibility of coming up against the Cavs, Celtics, or Raptors at that early stage doesn’t change the general consensus on a one-and-done prediction.
Figure 2 The Sixers need every shot to come off if they are to be successful - Source: Unsplash
Long Shots
Once the playoffs come around, NBA fans know that anything can happen. There are teams that are known as chokers, and others that outperform expectations. If the Sixers are to do well and become a real contender, it feels as though they will have to fit that latter category.
Trading Jared McCain to the Thunder for future picks would suggest that even the front office believes that the team is not ready for a serious run at a championship at the current time. As much as Joel Embiid needs to win a title now, it might be that it is the younger players on the roster – as well as those taken in the draft in the next few years – that will be the ones to bring a championship to Philly.
That being said, the 76ers will have a rested Paul George back at the end of the regular season, so he may be able to put one last shift in to help the team. If Embiid is still playing at his current level, and Maxey and Edgecombe continue to provide backcourt assistance, the 76ers could be considered a long shot. That might not be much, but Sixers fans would definitely take it right now.
