Philly Still the Best Team in the East

The NBA season is going to officially start in three weeks, meaning that between now and then I have to write my 2023-24 predictions.  And I can already tell that this time around, it's going to difficult for a number of reasons.

As it currently stands, I'm sorta leaning towards predicting the Warriors as the 2024 champions.  That's not to say that I actually believe they're the best team in the NBA, and I'm not convinced that Chris Paul will prove as valuable to the Dubs as Jordan Poole did.  But what they do have is Steph Curry and a longer continuity than any other contender.

This past week, there's been a couple of monumental acquisitions in the East.  The Bucks got Dame, and the Celtics acquired Jrue Holiday.  Both of those moves sound really exciting on paper, but the caveat is that neither were acquired as free agents.  Instead, there were players who also had to leave both of those teams to make those acquisitions possible.  So that's why, as exciting as it is to finally have Giannis + Lillard, I'm not getting all gassed up and shit.  The Bucks may now have the best two-man combination in the East, if not the entire NBA, but Philly is deeper, even if the Beard were to bounce.

THE MILWAUKEE BUCKS

Dame is one of only two players, besides LBJ, Steph and sometimes Doncic, who I would say is a viable offense in and of himself.  In other words, you can rationalize constructing a roster around Lillard consisting of like only role and utility players, though with one drawback, that being his inconsistent health.  A couple of those years Dame played with McCollum and Nurkic, the way I see that iteration of the Blazers didn't make the Finals not because they weren't good enough per se but rather they just happened to coexist in the Warriors Dynasty.

Since that combination didn't work out, i.e. Dame alongside another high-scoring G, then what I wanted to see was him rather team up with one who's like all-defense.  I thought it was going to happen when Payton II went to Portland, but it didn't work out that way.  Now that the potential once again existed, for whatever reason the Bucks decided to ship Holiday out, as opposed to, say, Middleton.  Who knows why they did so.  Maybe the owners like Khris better or something like that, or maybe they have their own vision of what Dame + Giannis is supposed to look like.  It's an exciting trade nonetheless, but one that makes you wonder what type of starting five they're going to roll out.

I'm presuming it's going to be something like Dame + Khris + Giannis + Porter + Lopez.  With that backcourt chucking up shots, and the frontcourt focused on rebounding/defense, they could make a case for best starting five in the league.  But then, who's coming off the bench?

Arguably, the best bench player the Bucks currently have, if they use that lineup, would be Jae Crowder, who more ideally would be a starter himself.  I thought Jevon Carter was still around, a G who, in theory, may fit well alongside Dame, but he's now with the Bulls.  They also have Malik Beasley, who isn't a scrub, but.  I guess it would probably make sense, all things considered, the start Crowder and let Porter come off the bench.  Either way, this is an interesting squad up to about the 7th man.  But considering all of the above, I'm not in the rush to jump on the bandwagon and proclaim them the best in the East.

THE BOSTON CELTICS

My heart almost stopped for a second when I learned that the Celtics traded Robert Williams III, furthermore to the Blazers, a team that may now even really need him like that.  I can imagine how some Boston fans may feel.  The other day I was reading an article on NBC which claimed that Holiday + White + Brown + Tatum + Porzingis + Horford is the best six-man combination in the league.  And yes, the Celts really did need a G like Jrue, i.e. a non-chuck who is a +defender and clearly above-average offensive player.  But his effectiveness is likely to minimized by playing alongside Tatum, who's a chuck, as well as Brown, who's developed a chuckin habit also.  And even though Porzingis + Horford is nothing to sneeze at, who are they going to use in games where they're being tortured (inside) by an opposing big?

THE PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

Even if Harden were to be traded, the Sixers arguable have the deepest roster in the East, and like it's not even really that close.  So if he rather sticks around, then they definitely have the deepest roster, even if other teams' starting five may be more formidable.

The simple-minded think that starters win championships.  That's not exactly true, especially in today's age of the tender, load management, mental health, diva NBA player.

By the looks of things, the entire 2023-24 Sixers roster, from 1-12, will have some type of above-average name recognition.  In other words, if you were to look at the rosters of most NBA team, once you get to like the 7th of 8th man, you're not likely to know who dudes are unless you really watch a lot of NBA games.  But Philly has an entire roster of guys that you know can play, i.e. have at least have heard of before.  They have more rotation-level bigs (Embiid + Bamba + Dedmon + Montrezl) than they are likely to have playing time for, and idk if any other team in the association can currently make that claim.  Besides that Tyrese Maxey may be the most-underrated player in the NBA, and Oubre Jr. can play a Harden-like role, i.e. chuck, if the situation demands, so on and so forth.  They obviously have a level of flexibility that neither Boston or Milwaukee can boast of.

For almost like an entire decade now, Philly has had one of the best braintrusts when it comes to roster construction.  Yet this offseason, they still managed to outdo themselves.  But you know, with Lillard and others bouncing around and with the Beard demanding a trade, and all the other headlines it's like no one is recognizing the Sixers' genius.  So now, the onus is really on Nick Nurse to figure out how to beat teams like the Celtics, Bucks or Nuggets who may have a more talented starting lineup.  At least, unlike other coaches, he actually has the pieces to do so.

CONCLUSION

That brings me to my conclusive point, which is my belief that the reason the Sixers have yet to make to the Finals, esp a couple of those seasons when they really should have, is because of image issues.  Look, you already the deepest roster in the East and arguable the best team in the NBA.  So now, the challenge becomes image rehabilitation.  No Joel getting into petty squabbles, talking shit to the media or, you know, coming on the court like a wrestler or some dumb shit.  No more trade demands from the Beard.  And yes, fuck it, he may also consider getting a shave also.  After all, promotion in the world of business, if that's your goal, isn't always only about talent.  If that was solely the case, then I'm sure Philly would've already made it to the Finals a couple of times in the past 5-6 years.