Can 20 Wins Still be a Successful Season for the Sixers?

The Philadelphia 76ers won 10 games last year, and took a step back in the rebuilding process. Wining isn’t going to be the most important thing next year

Many fans have been anticipating for the Philadelphia 76ers to take the court against the Oklahoma City Thunder to open up the 2016 regular season. Everyone wants to see what Bryan Colangelo put together, as well as how all the new players will play off one another. This season has a chance to be the start of something great, but this season also has a chance to take a step back in the rebuilding process. So what can we consider to be a successful season for the Sixers?

Ben Simmons

With the first overall pick, the 76ers took the best all around player, Ben Simmons, over Brandon Ingram. Simmons showed us amazing playmaking ability and athleticism during Summer League. Everybody knows that Ben has tremendous passing skills, but it won’t take long before teams are begging Ben to shoot the ball. Now, he doesn’t have to devote every hour in the gym to his jump shot, but it definitely is something that needs to be developed. If Ben can gain a shot that will bring his defender out with him along the perimeter, then he can truly develop into the player we all see him as.

Joel Embiid

Joel Embiid is the biggest question mark going into the upcoming season for the Sixers. Embiid has been injured with a broken foot for the past 2 seasons, and is finally healthy enough to play (kinda).

Joel will be placed on a minutes restriction, and will rest on the second game of a back to back to begin the season. These playing restrictions are mainly due to the lack of not playing in an official basketball game since college. It’s possible it might be a little bit of a precaution for his foot. Not only will he be playing with restrictions, he will also be playing in front of a Philadelphia crowd that has high expectations of him. If he can finish completely healthy with no restrictions, and show some flashes of great potential, then we should be happy with that.

Healthy

If the Sixers can escape the season with minor injuries, and no key setbacks, we will be ecstatic. An injury during the rebuilding stage can really set a team back a few steps. The Sixers had to wait two years for Joel, no one wants to go through that again. Health is short and to the point, the player and the team can’t get better if they’re hurt. Injuries can ruin players careers and put a major bump in the road in a teams future.

Big man solution

One thing the 76ers did not accomplish what they sent out to do was free up their front court. The Sixers should try to clear this problem sooner rather than later. Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel will both have their trade value drop if they continue to play together. Constant trade rumors around two players will expose a negative atmosphere to a lot of young players. Once the Sixers front office handles this problem, then the players can focus on basketball.

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Draft

The 2017 NBA draft class is loaded with potential superstars, and the Sixers have a chance to land two top 5 draft picks. If this situation happens, then it would be interesting to see what Bryan Colangelo will do with the picks. Hopefully after the 2017 draft, the Sixers will have finalized the core of their team. Then they can be looking to add veterans along side them in free agency. This could be the last year that the Sixers will using their own draft pick in the lottery.

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If the Sixers win 40+ games and make a run at the playoffs, then is a successful season. If they don’t perform and only end up with 20 wins, yet handle everything above, it’s hard to argue it wasn’t a successful season. It’ll be hard to endure another low win season, but it could be very beneficial for the long term future.