4 players who can make (or break) the Philadelphia 76ers’ 2018-19 season

Which players will be key to the Philadelphia 76ers’ success in 2018-19?

The Philadelphia 76ers will compete with the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics atop the Eastern Conference this season. While the summer yielded no major additions, improvement from their core pieces could take the Sixers to another level.

With that in mind, it’s important to look at players who can significantly alter the Sixers’ rate of success based on their individual production. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons fit that category, but the focus here is on the supporting cast.

Last season, the Sixers boasted a meager .500 record at Christmas. That was due their lackluster second unit, which consisted of Jerryd Bayless, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Justin Anderson, among others.

Things changed after the buyout deadline, when Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova brought some much-needed firepower to the reserves. That’s a prime example of non-star players impacting the Sixers’ overall success by a considerable margin.

With Belinelli and Ilyasova gone, other players will be called upon to fill that void. Brett Brown is also changing the starting lineup, a bold move after that five-man group ranked among the NBA’s best last season.

Here are some players who could prove important in the Sixers’ quest for an NBA championship.