By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers are just over a month away from starting preseason action on October 4 in Massachusetts and this season is one of the more exciting ones for the team than in recent years. With a handful of new additions and some veteran presence, the Sixers could very well double their win their win total from last season (10-72) and really begin building towards a team and a balanced roster that can contend in the future.
Sports Illustrated has been giving each team offseason grades and believe it or not, the Sixers have received an 'A' from the writers. In addition to a potentially healthy Joel Embiid and Dario Saric coming over from Turkey, the Sixers added some veterans to the back court in Jerryd Bayless and Gerald Henderson. They still have Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel and not to mention, No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons automatically makes them better off moving forward.
Taking Ben Simmons (and not Brandon Ingram) signaled the Sixers are ready to be competitive again—and ready to try and figure out how these parts all fit. With Joel Embiid presumably ready to return, Dario Saric coming over from Turkey and Simmons here to anchor the franchise, the future in Philadelphia is bright for the first time years. Brett Brown can mix and match and the front office can decide which prospects to build around. Some of these guys are inevitably going to get traded, and some of them likely won’t pan out. But at least Philly is moving forward, finally.
The SI writers go on to say that the worst move that the Sixers make, or didn't make for that matter, is the lack of gambles. Despite their outpouring of cap space, Philadelphia's biggest contract from the offseason was three years and $27 million to Jerryd Bayless. More or less, the Sixers played it safe and Sports Illustrated mentioned that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Maybe gamble on Dion Waiters for a year. Were they ever really in on Harrison Barnes? Employ the Brooklyn strategy? While it's OK to play things safe for now, Philly’s conservative nature shouldn’t carry over into the future.
Whether they end up winning more games than last year or not, one thing is for sure about the 2016-17 Philadelphia 76ers. They will be an exciting and interesting team to watch with a plethora of young talent under the age of 23 years old.
With Simmons needing time to find his NBA footing and so many future draft picks still in the pipeline, Philadelphia did well this summer to prioritize an organic rebuilding process over a rush job. At the same time, the Sixers added multiple hole-plugging veterans on reasonable contracts who should help this year’s group avoid the ultra-ugly embarrassing campaigns that came to define the Hinkie era. Good stuff.
In terms of the Sixers Atlantic Division foes, Sports Illustrated gave the Celtics an A, the Knicks a D, Brooklyn a C- and Toronto a C. They were clearly not impressed by New York's additions of Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose. Meanwhile, the Celtics signing of Al Horford highlighted their offseason.
The Sixers open up their 2016-17 regular season at home on October 26 at 8:00 p.m. against Oklahoma City. The game will be televised on ESPN. It's the first national television game for the Sixers since the 2012-13 season.
