Can Philadelphia 76ers Be a Better Team Than New Orleans Pelicans?

The Philadelphia 76ers and Pelicans are only separated by one win. Are the Sixers actually better than the Pelicans are right now?

Going into the 2016-17 season, the Philadelphia 76ers were expected to win several more games than last season. That is to be expected since the Sixers only won 10 games out of their 82 games played last season and the top pick of the 2016 Ben Simmons was expected to improve the Sixers a lot in his rookie season.

With Simmons out for at least the majority of the season due to a foot injury and Jerryd Bayless missing several games to a wrist injury, the debut of 2014’s third overall draft pick Joel Embiid and 12th overall pick Dario Saric with added veterans Sergio Rodriguez and Gerald Henderson Jr. are now counted on to keep the team from embarrassing themselves, the city, and the league.

Luckily, the Sixers have managed to avoid laughable long losing streaks this season and Embiid appears to be a lock to win rookie of the year. But managing to keep the mainstream media from writing stories about how much of an historic train wreck the Sixers are and why they couldn’t beat the top college basketball team, doesn’t change the fact that most people expect the Sixers to be one of the worst teams in the NBA.

Looking at recent power rankings, it’s clear how bad people think the Sixers are and how bad they expect them to be. Moke Hamilton’s power ranking for Basketball Insiders had the Sixers in last place, ranked 30th. Grant Hughes at Bleacher Report was higher on the Sixers, ranking them 28th out of 30 teams.

Hamilton and Hughes’ power rankings view the New Orleans Pelicans to be competing with the Sixers for worst team in the league. While Hamilton had the Pelicans one spot ahead of the Sixers at 29th, Hughes had the Pelicans two spots below the Sixers at 30th.

While no one should be surprised to see the Pelicans not being good enough to compete for a playoff spot in the Western Conference, few people thought they would be this bad. Jared Johnson’s power rankings that were done during the 2016 offseason had the Pelicans ranked 17th and the Sixers ranked 30th.

The Pelicans finished the 2015-16 season with 30 wins and 52 losses, but are on pace to win around 16 to 18 games this season based on their current performance. While Embiid is already a top ten center in the league and will become a superstar in the near future, the Pelicans already have an NBA superstar in Anthony Davis.

Davis scored 50 points, 16 rebounds, 5 assists, 7 steals, and 4 blocks in the Pelicans’ season and home opener against the Denver Nuggets. While Davis played an amazing game, his team ultimately loses 107-102 to the Nuggets. This article by Charles Curtis does a great job quickly explaining the issues with Davis’ team, but the Pelicans’ problems might not be bad enough for them to finish the season with a worse record than the Sixers.

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When comparing the Sixers’ team stats to the Pelicans’ team stats, it’s clear the Pelicans are the superior team.

Looking at points per game, the Pelicans score 101.1 and the Sixers score 95.9. Evaluating points their opponent score per game, the Pelicans give up 106.9 and the Sixers give up 108.4. In rebounds per game, the Pelicans grabbed 43.3 and the Sixers 42. And when it comes to the quality of the teams they beat, the Pelicans beat better teams than Sixers. The Milwaukee Bucks (5-7), Boston Celtics (7-6), Portland Trailblazers (7-7), and Charlotte Hornets (8-4) were all defeated by the Pelicans, while the Indiana Pacers (6-7), Washington Wizards (3-9), and Phoenix Suns (4-10) are teams the Sixers have beaten.

There’s probably a 60 to 80 percent chance the Pelicans finish the season with a better record than the Sixers.

Former Sixers’ point guard and current Pelicans’ starting point guard Jrue Holiday has only played in two games this season, and he scored over 20 points and had at least 7 assists in each game. The Pelicans won both games Holiday played in and Davis is averaging 31.2 points per game and 11 rebounds per game.

While the Sixers could be a much better team later in the season if Simmons returns, the Pelicans should have a better record as long as Davis stays health.

Next: Nik Stauskas is Finally Living up to Expectations

But honestly, just being able to write an article evaluation the Sixers’ chance to end season with a better record than another team instead of wondering when they will win their first game is a welcomed difference from the previous season, and I don’t envision the Sixers being the worst team in the league when this year is in the books