Under coach Doug Collins, the Philadelphia 76ers made huge strides in his first year. Behind Doug Collins defensive-minded charge, he transformed a squad that came 4th in the Atlantic division at 27-55 in the 2009-2010 season to a team that went 41-41 last year. Philadelphia made the postseason as the 7th seed but could not get past the Heat in the 1st round. They managed to play a more competitive game during the series, but ultimately managed only 1 victory.

While there are a considerable number of fantastic players on this squad, this team is suffering from having many solid role players but no one superstar to be the leader of this team. Without a real mega star, it is going to be difficult to really call this team as a valid contender in the Eastern Conference. So far they haven’t done anything in free agency and trades; they managed to re-sign their young players in C Spencer Hawes and SF Thaddeus Young though. Philadelphia attempted to address their need to add front court depth by drafting C Nikola Vucevic with the 16th pick in the first round. Nikola Vucevic has the ability be a solid player in the NBA, but he’s still a little raw to contribute immediately.

3rd year PG Jrue Holiday and 2nd year SG Evan Turner need to raise their play on the offensive end for Philly to have a chance to take the very next step in the suddenly competitive Eastern Conference. Holiday made big strides last year as the starting point guard when he put up 14 points and 6.5 dimes per game. He put up just 8 points and 3.8 dimes his rookie year 2 seasons back, but saw his contributions increase in just about all stats last season. Turner wishes to show similar progress in his sophomore season. Turner averaged just 7.2 points and 3.9 boards as a rookie last year. He is expected to start ahead of Jodie Meeks this year and the hope in the organization is that Turner can turn it round and provide better production in his sophomore season.

The Sixers have one of the more finished players in the league at SF in Andre Iguadala. He put up 14.1 points, 6.3 assists and 4.9 rebounds a game last season. Iguadala is also a brilliant fringe defender and his only knock is that his offensive production has gradually declined after posting a career high 19.9 points in the 2007-08 season.

Vet PF Elton Brand is the big question mark for 76ers coming in to the new season. While he led the team in scoring with 15 points/game and rebounding with 8.3 last season, he’s clearly headed to a steep decline and his health is also a concern moving forward. Though he started 81 of 82 games last season, he has struggled staying healthy in the past. He just started in 86 games the previous three seasons.

Hawes is a pretty solid big within but he doesn’t provide much of an offense after only averaging 7.2 points/game last year. Their depth inside is so exhausted that their only other big is first-year player Vucevic and no-one truly knows the production the rookie can supply. Iguadala can play PF if required, but he is clearly undersized at that position.

What they lack in depth up front, they obviously make up for it with solid reserves in the back court and small forward spots. Thaddeus Young, Jodie Meeks and backup point guard Lou Williams are all serviceable scorers. Williams averaged 13.7 points and 3.3 assists, Young chipped in 12.7 points and 5.3 rebounds while Meeks averaged a solid 10.5 points. Also in their bench is dynamic forward Andres Nocioni.

Prediction: 3rd Eastern Conference Atlantic Division – This team is clearly a young team on the rise. They’re going to make the postseason this year and will improve with time but unless they add some big man depth, they will not be well placed to contend with the really prime teams in the Eastern Conference. They are going to have trouble come playoff time and they will be 1 or 2 notches below Boston and New York in the Atlantic.

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