With Kawhi Leonard joining Clippers, James Ennis says Sixers can ‘walk to the Finals in the East’

James Ennis is awfully confident the Sixers are the team to beat in the East.

The veteran forward is re-signing with the team on a two-year deal, his agent Scott Nichols confirmed to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Noah Levick (see story). He took a veteran minimum deal despite more lucrative offers being on the table, per Nichols.

Ennis is in Las Vegas and took in the Sixers’ summer league loss Wednesday (see observations). When asked by the Inquirer’s Keith Pompey about why he re-signed, he was pretty candid.

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James Ennis III to the @PhillyInquirer on re-signing w/ #Sixers: "Because it's a good team, and a good chance of winning. The East is going to wide open. We had a good chance last year. Kawhi is gone. He went to the West. So we are going to walk to the Finals in the East."
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) July 10, 2019

You don’t expect him to say much less, but it’s a fairly brash statement from the 29-year-old. The Sixers will still face stiff competition in MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, the team that finished with the best record in the NBA last season.

Ennis was acquired by the Sixers in a second-round pick swap at the trade deadline with the Rockets, one of Elton Brand’s more underrated moves. He was their best reserve in the playoffs, especially during the seven-game series against the eventual champion Raptors.

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