The 76ers must avoid this recurring trend among heavyweight rivals

On the heels of a drastic retooling this offseason, the Philadelphia 76ers will be carrying a heavier baggage approaching the 2024-25 season. Sure, the Eastern Conference has gotten stronger across the board, but not a lot of teams under that umbrella will be operating under a more extreme win-now edict.

In their pursuit of building a roster that is as foolproof as possible, the 76ers continue to explore multiple avenues to bolster the team. With a couple of roster spots still up for grabs, the front office still has time to address remaining holes and cover all bases before training camp opens multiple weeks from now.

But in doing so, the team must avoid following a recurring trend among their heavyweight rivals.

The 76ers must avoid following their rivals and shunning the forward position

Philadelphia has a grand sum of two natural forwards on the roster in Paul George and KJ Martin, the latter of which is not expected to log much court time. Their other two “forwards”, Caleb Martin and Kelly Oubre Jr., are, in essence, wings playing a position up out of necessity. Sounds familiar? Well, two of their biggest competition tout the same styling.

New York, outside of Julius Randle and OG Anunoby, are littered with malleable wings known for their physicality and ability to negate their lack of height. Boston is also guard and wing-heavy, with Jayson Tatum operating as the lone natural forward on their deep and talented roster.

The 76ers, however, cannot flatter the opposition with imitation. The Celtics and the Knicks have their own styles that is much more amenable to their unique personnel. Form the lens of team-building, creating advantages on the court would be a lot more tedious if Philly starts falling into the trap of trying to beat its nemeses in their own games.

Fortunately, that the front office has reportedly set its sights on a couple of natural forwards to fill one of the last remaining openings is a good sign. After all, the 76ers have the makings of a team that can impose its will on the opponent thanks to their varied personnel that doesn’t necessarily fall under modern NBA conventions.

As long as the Philadelphia 76ers can find and double down on their identity next season, they should have a better shot at booking their seat to the Finals and even be the ones to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy come June.