Where do the Philadelphia 76ers rank in the Eastern Conference hierarchy?

After the acquisition of  Jimmy Butler, where do the Philadelphia 76ers rank among the East’s best teams?

Jimmy Butler‘s Philadelphia 76ers debut was not what everyone wanted to see. First off, the Sixers lost to the Orlando Magic. Second, Jimmy Butler had 14 points on 6-12 shooting. It was a feel out game for the Sixers newly acquired star to see how the team functions in a live game.

From the little we saw from Butler in just one game, it was apparent that he moved well without the ball which is something he will definitely need to do playing alongside Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid who both do best having the rock in their hands. Jimmy is the same way too so there will have to be a happy medium found there.

But as it pertains to how the Sixers match up against the rest of the Eastern Conference, they moved up some but they are still not the favorite to come out of the East.

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Before the Philadelphia 76ers made the trade for Jimmy Butler, they were completely outside of the mix to win the Eastern Conference Finals, let alone make it there. The Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks were a whole tier above them. In games against these teams, the Sixers lost by more than 10 to each opponent.

Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid alone were not going to be enough to get past either of these three teams. They had a gap that they needed to fill badly and that was a dominant wing scorer. J.J. Redick is a great scorer but he isn’t that guy that is going to call for the ball down the stretch of a game and get an ISO going. That’s just not his game. He plays well off others and is a perfect piece to play alongside a dominant scorer.

The 76ers lost to a Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward-less Celtics squad last year, 4-1. What makes you think they could get past them, or even Toronto? Every title contender needs three stars. That’s exactly what Elton Brand did by bringing in Jimmy Butler.

The Sixers now have three top-20 players in the league. That’s absurd. On paper, you can say they can win the east hands down but basketball is way more than that.

How the Sixers rank in the East

As of right now, I would rank the Sixers as the third-best team in the east. That is me being very conservative. Talent and potential wise, they can be the best team along with Boston, but when you bring in a new superstar, there are some growing pains and it takes time to figure out how to utilize three star talents cohesively.

With Jimmy Butler in the mix, I could see the 76ers beating the Raptors down the road in the playoffs. The Sixers have more star power than them and they finally have a man to guard Kawhi Leonard. Jimmy Butler is a dog (Stephen A. Smith voice) and is not scared of a single person in the entire league. He would willingly accept guarding Kawhi for a seven-game series with pure delight. He is just that competitive. The Sixers have the scoring and defense to shut down Kyle Lowry (just throw Ben on him) and have the different bodies to disrupt Kawhi.

The Sixers should be better than the Bucks and I believe they will be once April rolls around. Giannis is incredible and Kris Middleton is very talented from the perimeter, but there’s not a single time I would choose Eric Bledsoe, Giannis, and Middleton over Joel, Ben, and Jimmy G. Buckets.

Mike Budenholzer has coached this team and will continue to coach this team tremendously but the Sixers have the edge. Jimmy can get his, Joel will drop 40 and 15, Ben can get a triple-double on command, and J.J. Redick can hit a shot no matter how contested he is. The Bucks are better than the Sixers right now because they are older and more experienced, but this new Sixers squad has their number.

The Celtics pose the biggest threat to the 76ers due to the sheer amount of depth they possess. They have at least seven guys who could go out and give you 20 on any given night. That goes along with how well they are coached by the talented Brad Stevens.

The Celtics have been the 76ers kryptonite for a while. Al Horford has been Joel Embiid’s kryptonite since the playoffs last year and continuing into this season. The long, athletic, versatile wings that the Celtics have pose a mismatch for the 76ers. I believe if Jimmy can come and average 20 a night with Joel getting 25-12 along with Simmons and Redick getting 15 each, then that would be a solid distribution of scoring. But right now, the Celtics are still a big step ahead of the Sixers.

Right now the Philadelphia 76ers have the potential to make an NBA Finals run with the talent they have on their roster. It all boils down to execution and team chemistry. If Jimmy, Joel, and Ben and mesh and play well together then I wish the rest of the eastern conference good luck. Here They Come!