For sportswriter Bill Simmons, the championship hopes of the Philadelphia 76ers lie on Joel Embiid's upside and Ben Simmons' jump shot. Simmons was on the Zach Lowe Podcast where he discussed the potential of the 76ers who have risen as one of the key playoff contenders in the league. They beefed up their roster by adding the likes of Al Horford, Josh Richardson, among others. But for the basketball analyst, the real potential of the team lies on Simmons' capacity to develop a reliable jump shot. As transcribed by Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire:
“I think Philly’s upside is pretty ridiculous and a lot of it involves Ben Simmons. Is this shooting thing actually going to be real for him or is he at least gonna make people respect it a little bit like how Giannis was able to make people respect him at least a touch from 24 feet?”
In addition, he pointed out that if Embiid is healthy, then his potential is off the charts. As such, there's no limit to what the whole team can do. They might even churn-out a 60-win season.
“The Embiid upside is incalculable, especially if he’s in better shape. I just think if you’re gonna pick one team in the conference who you’d be like, “Alright, somebody’s going 65-17 in the East, who’s it gonna be?” I think Philly’s the only team that has a chance to do that. I don’t think they’ll actually do it, but you know what I mean? I think their ceiling is the highest.”
For the past two seasons, the 76ers have made it to the Eastern Conference Semifinals twice. It's a testament to what the team has become — to a bottomfeeding squad to one of the better teams in the NBA today. And they will only get better.
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