6. Philadelphia 76ers
It’s easy to see why many are concerned or worried about the Philadelphia 76ers. James Harden clearly doesn’t want to be on the team and it would be surprising if he wasn’t eventually traded. We should operate under the assumption that Harden isn’t going to be on the Sixers this season. And if that is indeed the case, there’s going to be a significant drop off for them. The big question is whether Tyrese Maxey can make a big enough of a developmental jump where it wouldn’t matter all that much.
Quite frankly, I’m not sold on the idea that he can. But as long as Joel Embiid is healthy, the Sixers are still going to be a team that could make some noise in the Eastern Conference. Maybe not to the level of noise that they made last season but they should still be competitive.
Philadelphia is unlikely to get a huge return for Harden and that could be the biggest problem here. Basically, there’s a good chance that the Sixers end up losing Harden for essentially nothing. That’s not only going to complicate this season but will eventually complicate this team’s future as well.