The Philadelphia 76ers are a tough team to get a read on heading into the 2020 offseason and the eventual 2020-21 season. The Sixers have a ton of talent led by Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, but the team was awkward and clumsy on the floor this season.
The team lost Jimmy Butler and JJ Redick in free agency and they replaced them with Al Horford and Josh Richardson hoping the upgrade in size would help them contend with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks. Instead, the loss of a go-to scorer and a shooter resulted in being swept in Round 1 of the playoffs.
As the team heads into the future, The Athletic has put together their way too early 2020-21 power rankings and the Sixers have come in ranked 12th on their list.
The Athletic on the ranking:
This ranking felt like a copout. Their season was a disaster for a myriad of reasons, but they managed to upgrade the coaching position with Doc Rivers. Will he get through to Embiid and Simmons to move them toward their potential? Possibly. Does anybody feel certain they’ll do it this coming season? Anybody outside of Philadelphia?
This is a couple of spots down from their 8th place ranking from ESPN in their version of the power rankings. Philadelphia should focus on trying to get more shooting on the floor in order to give Simmons and Embiid the space to operate. Horford and Richardson are fine players, but their fit around the young stars has come into question. [lawrence-related id=38415,38411,38405]