For these Philadelphia 76ers, the best is yet to come

Markelle, Markelle

Joel Embiid rules the paint. Ben Simmons directs traffic. Both J.J. Redick and Robert Convington rely upon Simmons to dish the ball to them when the shot opens up. But Markelle Fultz is a shot maker unto himself. He adds a second harmony to the Simmons melody.  And that doubles the challenge to the 76ers opponent.

And that is one player, and the second first-pick-of-an-NBA-Draft-to-debut rookie on this team. But this is a team of depth this season.  And that depth includes bench players who could start on other NBA teams.  Center Jahlil Okafor, point guard T.J. McConnell, power forward Dario Saric, guard Jerryd Bayless.  The team continues to work on the huge upside of talented wings Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Furkan Korkmaz.

When you’re hot, you’re the Sixers in 2018.

Right now, the NBA is surprised at the success of Boston Celtics, the Detroit Pistons,and the New York Knicks. Ultimately, the heat will cool and at least one of the early good teams will cool off and fall back to .500. But the opposite holds true for Philadelphia. Unlike teams built with veterans, this team has young players who are still making introductions to one another at the opening tip-off.

The team will applaud as Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Robert Covington solidify their early success with increasing proficiency and consistency. But at some point, these 76ers will need to derail the Houston Rockets (done), the Golden State Warriors, the Boston Celtics, and the Cleveland Cavaliers.  While the team is currently one win out of four attempts at this group, that will improve.