Bigger, Stronger 76ers Eye 2020 NBA Title: Season Preview

PHILADELPHIA, PA — After reaching the Eastern Conference semifinals two seasons in a row, and coming a favorable bounce away from eliminating the eventual NBA champions last spring, the Philadelphia 76ers are in their best position yet to bring the Process to fruition.

It's been 36 years since the 1982-83 team of Julius Erving, Maurice Cheeks, and Moses Malone brought the last NBA championship to Philadelphia.

Now a bigger, stronger 76ers team has several things going in its favor: a balanced lineup thanks to several key offseason acquisitions, the maturity and experience of its homegrown stars, and, perhaps most importantly, opportunity.

The team will open the season on Oct. 23 with the fourth best odds to win the title, according to OddsShark, at +750. Ahead of them are only the two Los Angeles teams: the Lakers at +300 and the Clippers at +350, as well as the Milwaukee Bucks at +600.

There has certainly never been a better time for Philadelphia than right now. The last two Eastern Conference champions have been spearheaded by two of the best players in the sport: LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018, and Kawhi Leonard's Toronto Raptors in 2019.

Both of those men have now gone to the Western Conference, and the prospects of the past two defending conference champions have notably dimmed; neither are likely to be deep postseason threats anytime soon.

The end result is a void at top of the East, and the Sixers are as close to an heir apparent to the crown as exists. Their chief competition will come from Boston and Milwaukee, but it would be hard to argue that momentum is not on the side of Philadelphia.

Part of that is due to the fact that both Milwaukee and Boston lost key players and, while they did improve, they did not make the impact additions the Sixers did. The Bucks tried to replace Malcolm Brogdon with a group of solid, if unspectacular veterans. The Celtics tried to replace All-NBA superstar Kyrie Irving with Kemba Walker; but the less replaceable loss might be the man the Sixers stole away.

That would be five-time All Star Al Horford, a 6'10 power forward and center who was signed to a four-year, $109 million deal.

The Sixers lost Jimmy Butler in a trade with the Miami Heat, but they received a dynamic younger player, Jason Richardson, in return. They also signed Tobias Harris to a five-year, $180 million contract. And on top of that, they added the NCAA's 2019 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, Matisse Thybulle, with the 20th overall pick in this year's draft. This is a team built to shut down the star-powered offenses they'll need to defeat to win the East, while providing a supporting cast that should allow the core of the team, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, to thrive.

Speaking of Embiid, he's put himself in prime position to compete for an MVP award this season. While the one knock against the Sixers' 7'0 big man has always been his weight and conditioning, he has reportedly lost 20 pounds in the offseason. For Simmons' part, there are rumors coming out of camp that he's finally figured out his jump shot. "If it's open, I'll take it," he told reporters, including NBC Sports Philadelphia's Noah Levick, last week.

If the two biggest stars on the Sixers have truly figured out their two greatest weaknesses, the team looks to be imposing indeed.

The Sixers will kick off the 2019-20 season on Oct. 23 at the Wells Fargo Center when they host their arch rivals, the Celtics. Some other highlights of their schedule include a Christmas afternoon home game against the Bucks, a Jan. 25 home game against LeBron and the Lakers, and a Feb. 11 home game against Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers.

Sixers tickets are on sale now; tickets for the home opener are available starting at $72 through TicketNetwork. You can save 10 percent at checkout with the code "PatchTickets10."

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