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2019-20 NBA season: Record predictions for every team

By Christopher Kline

PLAYA VISTA, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: Los Angeles Clippers Forward Kawhi Leonard (2) and Los Angeles Clippers Forward Paul George (13) pose for a photo during media day at the Los Angeles Clippers Training Center on September 29, 2019 in Playa Vista, California. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
PLAYA VISTA, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: Los Angeles Clippers Forward Kawhi Leonard (2) and Los Angeles Clippers Forward Paul George (13) pose for a photo during media day at the Los Angeles Clippers Training Center on September 29, 2019 in Playa Vista, California. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)
(Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers are equipped to pace the NBA on defense.

Joel Embiid and Al Horford are two of the league’s most impactful, versatile frontcourt defenders. Ben Simmons is a five-position cheat code. Josh Richardson is a point guard locksmith who happens to wield a 6-foot-10 wingspan.

If Philadelphia can get on the same page, there’s no reason the Sixers can’t sit first in defensive rating when the season ends. It’s not hard to align regular-season success with a strong defense, especially for a team as motivated as Philadelphia after their bitter Game 7 defeat in Toronto.

Where the concerns start for Philadelphia is on offense. Embiid and Simmons are generational talents, but there are still fit issues to work out. With Jimmy Butler and J.J. Redick gone, Brett Brown must find new ways to manufacture offense in the halfcourt.

Tobias Harris will take on expanded responsibilities as a pick-and-roll ball handler and a pull-up shooter. He handled No. 1 duties in Los Angeles, but there are different expectations and different limitations in Philly. Spacing has the potential to cause major problems, depending on how teams defend Embiid, Horford and Simmons on the three-point line.

The Sixers’ depth isn’t great either. Improvements were made, surely, but beyond the starting five, the bench is short on certainties. James Ennis and Mike Scott are reliable pieces, and Zhaire Smith projects as a strong perimeter defender. But aging vets and unproven 20-somethings make up the bulk of Philadelphia’s second unit.

On the merits of their defense, with the willpower and talent to back it up, the Sixers are contenders in the East. In a two-horse race, several pundits have already sided with Philadelphia over Milwaukee in preseason predictions. As new arrivals adjust, the Sixers will slide to the No. 2 seed. That doesn’t make the Bucks a better team come May.

Final record prediction: 55-27, No. 2 seed Eastern Conference