Philadelphia 76ers: Legitimate contenders or major pretenders?

The Philadelphia 76ers have been busy improving their team this season. The Sixers have acquired two superstars via trade during the season, but does that make legitimate contenders?

After the recent Tobias Harris trade, many are giving the Philadelphia 76ers a good chance to win the East. With a starting five of Ben Simmons, J.J. Redick, Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris, and Joel Embiid, the 76ers have a shot against any team.

But do they have enough depth to make a deep run in the playoffs to be considered legit contenders or are they just major pretenders?

Their starting lineup may be the best in the East. They can easily stack up against the Bucks, Celtics and Raptors, but each of those teams has more depth than the Sixers.

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Boston has Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier, and Gordon Hayward all coming off the bench. Toronto has Marc Gasol (for now), Fred VanVleet, and Norman Powell to turn to off the bench.

The Bucks are lacking big names off the bench too, but they have made it work this season. Philadelphia can certainly find a way to work around their lack of depth, and with how potent their starters are, there’s no reason to believe they can’t make a run to the Finals.

The playoffs could really expose their lack of depth. Currently the Sixers are in the 5th spot in the East, which would draw them a first round matchup against the Celtics. That would be the Sixers’ worst nightmare.

The Celtics are the deepest team in the East. If the Sixers could draw a favorable matchup in the first round, they could find themselves in position to face Milwaukee or Toronto in the second round. Milwaukee would provide the Sixers a favorable matchup.

If the Sixers can make it through to the Eastern Conference Finals, their star power may be able to carry them to the Finals, but then again, their stars could also be exhausted from playing extensive minutes in the first two series. The 76ers are ready to make a deep playoff run, but their stars may have to be used too much for them to be fresh deep into the playoffs.

The Sixers could win the East but beating whoever wins the West would be a great struggle. It’s tough to imagine them beating Golden State or even Denver, but they could have a good shot against Oklahoma City or Houston.

So how legitimate of contenders are the Sixers then? They’re going to be a tough out in the playoffs. If they draw some favorable matchups, they could find themselves contending for a title, but they could also be a team that makes an early exit.

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Realistically, they are close to being a championship-caliber team but not yet. If they can keep their core together and add a few solid role players, the Philadelphia 76ers could find themselves raising the Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2020. But the Sixers probably won’t being doing that this year.