3 underrated Eastern Conference rivals the 76ers must watch out for

The Philadelphia 76ers should be wary of Cleveland Cavaliers' coaching change

Most of the Philadelphia 76ers opponents will start the season having the upper hand due to the continuity of their roster. The Cavaliers retained all of their players from the team that reached the Eastern Conference semifinals last season, but decided to move from head coach JB Bickerstaff and replaced him with former Warriors' assistant Kenny Atkinson.

The Cavaliers are always set to be a challenge for the 76ers due to their size inside the paint and the fact that they have two defense-first centers to go against Joel Embiid. Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are one of the best defensive duos inside the paint.

The two teams split the series with two wins each, but Joel Embiid played in only one of the four contests. A fact that we need to mention from those games is Tyrese Maxey's shooting struggles. The explosive guard went against one of the top defenses in the league and averaged 23 points, but only shot 37 % from the field and 26% from three.

Kenny Atkinson is going to bring a different approach with the hope of improving the team's offense and integrating Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland offensive talent together. That said, the 76ers will have more star power in their squad with the addition of Paul George and some highly physical wings like Caleb Martin and Guerschon Yabusele.