Believe it or not, the 2020-21 NBA Season is nearing the halfway point. As you read this, the Sixers sit in the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
So what does this mean?
For playoff seeding, a decent amount as the Sixers are over five games clear of the eighth seed and four games above Indiana in fourth. Who knows if Philadelphia will do what they have in years past and stumble across the finish line, but for now, a “home-court advantage” in round one seems likely.
While playoff seeding might change over time, it is a safe bet to make that the Sixers will be picking in the latter half of the first round of this year’s draft (assuming Daryl Morey does not make any moves before the deadline). Philly also has two picks in the second round (thank you, Knicks), but Houston can swap with the 76ers for the more favorable of their pick (if we even reach the point where this happens, there are much bigger problems for Philly).
If the season were to end today, the Sixers would be picking 27th. The NBA lottery is a well-understood and discussed topic, but fewer people know that picks 15-30 go in reverse order of regular-season standings.
This draft is MUCH different than last year’s. Going into 2020, there were no guaranteed stars, and while you can see now that Anthony Edwards, James Wiseman, and LaMelo Ball are all finding success, this outcome was certainly not expected. Last year, foreign players also made the draft challenging to project, but this year there are no standout international prospects.