Tonight, the Sixers begin their 2015-16 campaign against the Boston Celtics as 11 point underdogs. This season marks the third year of this rebuild process and not a ton of progress has been made in shaping this roster for the future. The Sixers have drafted big men over the past two years with their first rounders in Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor. They also have second-year forward Nerlens Noel and not a ton of shooting depth to go along with their front court.
This season will be crucial in seeing what direction this team will go in moving forward. We all knew the rebuild would take some time, but to have little progress in finding a franchise player over the past few years is a bit concerning. Sam Hinkie has parted with Michael Carter-Williams, KJ McDaniels along with other talent in hopes of acquiring more talent in the draft, but so far, little has been accomplished.
Today, the Sixerdelphia staff gives their outlook on the Liberty Ballers upcoming season:
Brandon Apter – @bapter23 on Twitter
This season is going to be a tough one for the Sixers. Since they've declared their plan to rebuild, we've seen some potential on the team, but so far, not too much can be concluded from Sam Hinkie's tenure as GM. Joel Embiid may never don a Sixers uniform, Dario Saric is still an unknown and the team doesn't have a shooting threat either. Obviously, the biggest focus of this season, like the last two, is player development. The front court duo of Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel is the big headline going into the season. How these two big men work together will really dictate how the Sixers fare this season in the long run. I believe they could have the ability to work well together, but in the end, the Sixers lack of shooting will become a frustrating consistency as the season progresses.
When it comes to the Sixers shooting, they will rely heavily on Robert Covington, who is currently out of the lineup with an injury, and Nik Stauskas, who could see his first action as a Sixers in tonight's opener. I think these two will have the ability to keep the team in games through parts of the third quarter, but like last season, the Sixers are likely going to have a lot of issues closing out games. Once Tony Wroten returns, that may change. I'm sure Isaiah Canaan will also be in the shooting mix, but as I mentioned, the focus will be on Covington and Stauskas. Hopefully you get solid contributions from guys like JaKarr Sampson and Jerami Grant as well. Grant is one of the most interesting players entering the season. He's shown that he has explosiveness to the rim while also being able to sink the long ball. If he starts the season strong, the Sixers could have a much more balanced attack than what most people think.
Record prediction – 23-59
Mike Angelina – @MikeAngelina on Twitter
I’m afraid this is going to be pretty ugly. There are just way too many areas of weakness and concern on the horizon. For one, the point guard situation is, quite frankly, horrendous. Isaiah Canaan is a nice NBA shooter and I think there’s a place for him in the NBA, but not as a team’s floor general. I envision a very rocky start, much like the one they had last year, to the season. Looking at the season, there are not many games I can say the honestly have a chance to win. The injuries to Nik Stauskas and Robert Covington do not help, but I’m not quite sure if they would make that much difference in the win/loss column anyway. That’s how bad I expect them to be. Jahlil Okafor had an underwhelming preseason and I would not be surprised if he has some early struggles or just bouts of inconsistency. Also, keep in mind, Nerlens Noel is very foreign to the power forward position. Although he played there a few times last season towards the end, he’s still pretty inexperienced there. That’s another concern.
Now, having said all that, it’s not the end of the world. I’ve heard murmurs and complaints that it is year three of the rebuild and they still are not competitive. To those concerns, I say: relax. I cannot necessarily fault the Sixers for any of their moves over the past six months. Is Canaan a good point guard? Of course not, but there was no need to sign some free agent guard to a multi-year deal (likely what would have been needed to get a deal done) just to probably draft one a year or two later. Plus, it’s not exactly the worst thing in the world if the Sixers get the most chances to win the lottery next spring. Hopefully once things start gelling (as much as they can with all the roster turnover they’ll likely have), they can approach 25 wins, just to represent some sort of tangible growth.
Record Prediction: 21-61
Rob Bauer – @youngtrone on Twitter
One has to imagine that this is the last year of full-on Tankadelphia mode. It'll be hard for Hinkie to justify more continued losing after getting (potentially) four 1st rounders in next years draft. So lets all take one more ride on the suck train, cause it's nothing but rainbows and championships after this … right? Now lets play Nostradamus. I predict that Kendall Marshall logs the bulk of minutes at PG, while Hinkie cashes in on any value Wroten has at the trade deadline.
Nerlens and Okafor will co-exist well, with Nerlens proving himself as a premiere defensive player, ultimately landing in the conversation for Defensive POY. Okafor will get buckets, but despite gaudy numbers and ROY consideration, we will all be wondering at the end of the year if Mudiay wasn't the right choice in the draft. This will also be the year that the negative noise surrounding this team whits a fever pitch, and the emotional stability of the squad will truly be tested.
I predict Richaun Holmes will be better than expected, and Canaan will be worse than expected. I predict this is our final ride with JaKarr, so lets all savor it. And finally, I'm going to go ahead and call it – Sixers finish the year with a 24-58 record (bet the house on the over, 21.5 is just dumb), good for 3rd worst record in the NBA for the 3rd time in a row.
Record Prediction: 24-58
