2020 provided unprecedented circumstances for professional sports teams. A global pandemic will do that.
However, even before COVID-19 shut down the entire country, the Sixers still seemed like they could never click on all cylinders.
When play resumed in Orlando and the postseason started, the Sixers' time in the bubble abruptly burst at the hands of a sweep by the Celtics.
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Now Brett Brown, the coach who guided them through a seven-year process, is gone.
Welcome aboard, Glenn “Doc” Rivers.
Now a new process must begin, a process to get the Sixers back on track and looking like the contender they once appeared to be in the NBA. However, they have their work cut out for them.
Per PointsBet, our sports betting partner, the Sixers have the 12th-best odds to win the 2021 NBA title at +3000 ($10 bet to win $300). This time last year, prior to the start of the 2019-2020 season, the Sixers were listed at +650 to win the title.
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Before the Sixers can even think about a title next season they need to be concerned with winning the Eastern Conference. That will be no easy task. Jimmy Butler and the Heat will be a problem. The Bucks, Celtics and Raptors aren’t going away anytime soon and the Nets are adding Kevin Durant to the lineup.
The Sixers’ sixth-best odds at +1100 ($10 bet to win $110) to win the East seem just about right. An experienced coach like Rivers should elevate the Sixers' level of play. Tobias Harris being reunited with his former Clippers coach may be just what he needs to get that added production back in his arsenal.
So many questions have to be answered for the Sixers through the draft and free agency. There's also uncertainty surrounding Joel Embiid’s conditioning and Ben Simmons’ health after suffering a couple of injuries this past season.
And of course there’s the question of when next season will actually begin.