The Philadelphia 76ers were done a minor disservice recently in ESPN’s NBA Power Rankings and breakout candidate article.
The NBA preseason is in full swing with training camps and exhibition games underway. Now is the time that major news do their preseason power rankings. ESPN recently released its NBA Power Rankings, along with who they project will have a breakout season on each team. According to ESPN, the Philadelphia 76ers are third in their power rankings and Josh Richardson is their candidate to have a breakout season.
Being third in the preseason is a very good accomplishment for the 76ers. Only the Los Angeles Clippers and the Milwaukee Bucks are ranked ahead of Philly. It’s hard to argue against the Clippers having a superior roster than the Sixers. Led by Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, the Clippers deep roster is second to none.
There’s an argument to made that the 76ers do have a better overall roster than the Bucks. Giannis Antetokounmpo is a super star, but outside of Khris Middleton and maybe Eric Bledsoe, the Bucks don’t have much star power at all. They lost Malcolm Brogdon and Nikola Mirotic this past summer, which is a big blow.
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While the Bucks’ roster overall had decreased in it’s strength this past summer, the Sixers have gotten stronger. They flipped the loses of J.J. Redick and Jimmy Butler into Richardson and Al Horford. They also strengthen their bench with the key acquisitions of Trey Burke, Matisse Thybulle and Kyle O’Quinn.
The Sixers have two out of the three best players to guard Antetokounmpo in Joel Embiid and Horford. Having two players that can guard the reigning MVP at a high level and having an overall more talent roster should put the Sixers ahead of the Bucks in ESPN’s NBA Power Rankings.
ESPN had Josh Richardson has the breakout candidate on the Sixers entering this season. They made a solid argument for it, but he’s looking to be the fourth or fifth option most nights on offensive. He should have a better year in terms of shooting percentages, but not in overall stat production.
There’s several other players that could have a breakout year. Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, Zhaire Smith and Burke all have better chances than Richardson to have a breakout season. It’s not impossible for Richardson not to have a breakout season, but based on his potential role and other possible candidates, it’s seems unlikely he will.
ESPN might be a little off in their predictions for the Philadelphia 76ers, but overall they believe that the Sixers have one of the strongest teams in the whole NBA.