Justin Fischetti
Staff Writer
The Philadelphia 76ers started their 2017-18 season on Oct. 18 against the Washington Wizards, and with nearly a quarter of the season finished the Sixers are off to a promising start with an 11-7 record as of Nov. 26.
After spending much of the previous four seasons near the bottom of the NBA standings while in the midst of a massive rebuild, the 76ers appeared poised to finally take a step forward in the 2017-18 NBA season. The Sixers returned many young key players from last season looking to make further improvements in their game, including Robert Covington, Dario Saric, T.J. McConnell and, most notably, Joel Embiid. Last season, Embiid put up sensational numbers despite having minute restrictions and missing over half the season due to injury.
2016 number one draft pick Ben Simmons, who missed the entire 2016-17 season due to a foot injury, was set to make his long-awaited NBA debut. The 2017 number one draft pick, Markelle Fultz, was also ready for his debut. Additionally, the 76ers made a splash in free agency for the first time in years, most notably signing veterans J.J. Reddick and Amir Johnson to one-year contracts. These free agent signings showed that the Sixers were ready to take the next step forward and win as soon as possible, instead of continuing the rebuild by filling the team with only young players. These factors, combined with an Eastern Conference that was predicted to be weak, had led many NBA experts to predict that the 76ers will be a low-seeded playoff team; a drastic improvement from the near last-place finishes of the past few seasons.
18 games later, the 76ers are on track to meet, and possibly exceed those predictions. The Sixers got off to a slow start, losing their first game to the Wizards and losing four of their first five games overall, they have been one of the hottest teams since. They have won 10 of 13 games since that slow start, including impressive wins over the Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, and Portland Trail Blazers. Many of their players from last season have shown improvement so far this season, the veterans have contributed as advertised, and perhaps most significantly, Ben Simmons has exceeded even the most optimistic of pre-season predictions, contributing to the team in a wide variety of ways including scoring (18.5 points per game), rebounding (9.1 rebounds per game) and passing (7.7 assists per game).
76ers head coach Brett Brown also praised Ben Simmons, especially in regards to his passing; "To look at the royalty that you're around, look at the company that surrounds you when you look at the NBA assist leaders, it's a reminder that he [Simmons] doesn't need to score” Brown said as reported in the LA Times. “He can score and it does help, but it's not mandatory, especially making shots. That's not going to define him this year. I think finishing will and free throws will. But growing that end of his game, and encouraging your point guard to pass the heck out of it like you do, it's exceptional at an early stage."
The 76ers hope these trends will continue later in the season and possibly lead the team to a playoff spot in a higher seed than many expected. The only major disappointment in this season so far for the 76ers has been the injury bug affecting Markelle Fultz. Fultz suffered a shoulder injury in the preseason, and while he attempted to play through the injury at first, when it became clear that the injury was hurting Fultz’s performance, he was shut down after three games. He hopes to return to the court later in the season. The Sixers are also running into controversy with their handling of Jahlil Okafor, who has asked for a trade since he is not in the team’s rotation and therefore hardly gets any playing time. However, management has not yet found a good trade for him, leaving Okafor on the bench.
