NBA: 5 storylines to watch during the 2020-21 opening week

James Harden (Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)
James Harden (Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)
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Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons (Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports)

NBA storyline: How will the new-look Sixers perform?

Much has been made about the Philadelphia 76ers and their new direction that they’ve taken this offseason, led by the hiring of Daryl Morey into the front office and Doc Rivers as the team’s next head coach. However, much of how this team’s success will be measured will depend on how they perform during the regular season.

For much of last season – both before and after the NBA’s hiatus – the Sixers were huge underperformers in the Eastern Conference. They didn’t qualify as a top 4 team in the East and were swept out of the playoffs by the Boston Celtics.

Ben Simmons was injured and Joel Embiid wasn’t able to catapult this team by any means in the playoffs. With Rivers calling the shots, and a different supporting cast around Simmons and Embiid, it’ll be interesting to see how this team comes out of the gate.