Oct 23, 2015; Manchester, NH, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel (4) talks to forward Jerami Grant (R) during the second half against the Boston Celtics at Verizon Wireless Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
The Philadelphia 76ers are set up for a not-so-great season, unfortunately. They don’t have very many quality players, and the ones that can be considered “good” by an NBA standard haven’t seen much NBA floor time (Nerlens Noel is entering just his sophomore season, and Jahlil Okafor is a true rookie). Injuries to nearly half of their team before they played even one regular season game doesn’t help their case either.
With cut day came some decisions to be made, and some serious surprises. I wasn’t blown away to see Furkan Aldemir cut like some were, but I was surprised to see T.J. McConnell made the team (although examining his preseason performances with more depth made it clear why he made the team).
This got me thinking, do the Sixers have some players on their squad that could have big seasons? Surely, NBA fans that aren’t Sixers fans aren’t giving anyone on the roster much credit, but I think there might be some players that even Sixers fans are overlooking.
It’s an 82 game season, which leaves a lot of room for things to happen. It’s a lot of time for someone to hit a groove, but it’s also a lot of time for someone to get injured, or go in a slump. This may open up opportunities for some off-the-bench players on the squad, and I’m excited to see who grabs the opportunity by the horns and surprises everyone.
Here’s some players who may have the potential to have surprisingly good seasons.
Next: Nik Stauskas