And So It Begins

By Sean Kennedy

There will be no specific preview article for the Sixers’ first game of the season against Miami Wednesday night. If you want to brush up on the Heat, read this predictably excellent article by Zach Lowe. I’ll say this: the one advantage Philadelphia will have is the Heat playing the tail-end of a back-to-back after getting battered by a rugged Chicago Bulls team. The major disadvantage will be the players suiting up for each squad and their respective talent levels. Instead, let’s look ahead and make three predictions for this Sixers season as a whole (besides plenty of losses).

3 Predictions:

1. The Sixers will finish last in the league in turnovers. Last year, Houston was the sloppiest team with the ball, averaging 16.4 turnovers per game. Through 7 preseason games, Philadelphia averaged 21.4 giveaways with their lowest total in a single game being 17 (and no, that wasn’t against Bilbao, they actually had 26 in that contest). Certainly that number will come down some as teams tighten things up in the regular season and the starters get more consistent minutes. However, with the number of inexperienced young players getting major floor time for the Sixers, and Brett Brown’s strategy to push the pace to create scoring opportunities for a largely ineffective offense, Philadelphia should bring up the rear in this category.
2. Evan Turner is gone by the trade deadline. The former Buckeye could not craft a better situation for himself to thrive at the professional level (at least from a statistical standpoint). Turner is going to see all the minutes he can handle as the leader of a razor-thin wing rotation, and will be counted on for a huge bulk of the scoring load. Expect Turner to garner career highs in the traditional counting stats of points, rebounding, and assists, albeit at the expense of efficiency numbers and ball security. Sam Hinkie will flip that overvalued asset on an expiring contract to some other organization at the deadline, hopefully to a contender for a late first round pick.
3. The Sixers will not finish with the worst record in the NBA. That illustrious honor will instead go to the Phoenix Suns, not only due to the trade of their best frontcourt player in Marcin Gortat to the Wizards (great job by them to get a first round pick for an expiring contract by the way), but also because Phoenix plays in the much tougher Western Conference. It will be close, but I see Jeff Hornacek’s crew edging out Philadelphia in the Wiggins sweepstakes. Fans will bemoan the fact that the Sixers only have a 19.9% chance at the first overall pick, instead of the surefire 25% chance the worst overall record grants a team (“The Sixers can’t even tank properly!”).

Those are my predictions for what should be an interesting 2013 season in Philadelphia, and hopefully the year that lays the groundwork for an eventual contender down the road. Have predictions of your own? Let’s hear them in the comments section below or on twitter @PhillyFastBreak. Until Wednesday night, the Sixers are still undefeated.