The Philadelphia 76ers and their front office have put together a roster that should, on paper, contend for an NBA championship. Instead, they’re struggling at the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff standings as they are sitting at the 6 seed in the East and would have to try and win a road game in order to advance in the playoffs.
Due to the money given out to Al Horford and Tobias Harris in the offseason, they are in a tough spot in terms of trying to add to this roster. ESPN’s Kevin Pelton ranked all of the team’s current state for the future and he has the Sixers overall ranked 12th in the league.
However, he has the Sixers ranked dead last in the league in money, tied for 19th in management, and tied for 22nd in the draft. So, therefore, the Sixers do not rank favorably in terms of the team’s front office management by ESPN. It also means the future doesn’t look all that bright.
Pelton wrote:
RANK SCORE
Players T-7 72.5
Management T-19 47.5
Money 30 15.0
Market T-12 52.5
Draft T-22 30.0
Overall: 58.3
The Sixers have ranked in our top 10 since September 2017, when they were set to add No. 1 pick Ben Simmons to a team that went 28-54 in the last of five consecutive seasons in the lottery. Now, with “The Process” nothing but a memory, Philadelphia confronts a new set of challenges — namely, whether this core is capable of maximizing Simmons and fellow All-Star Joel Embiid, which hasn’t been the case during a disappointing 2019-20 season to date.With a max extension for Simmons kicking in, the 76ers will start next season in the luxury tax before filling out their roster, and cap relief won’t come until 2022-23 (when Al Horford’s salary is partially guaranteed) at the earliest. Philadelphia is also out a first-round pick. So while this is still a top-10 roster in terms of current talent, the future appears surprisingly cloudy. — Pelton
The Sixers’ future looks like it is tied into this group. They don’t have much flexibility in terms of adding any future pieces and they don’t have many moveable contracts that will bring them back some value.
General manager Elton Brand will have to try and work around the challenges his roster presents in order to get the Sixers moving in the right direction. [lawrence-related id=28952,28944,28935]