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Past Heartbreaks be Damned, I’m Still in on the Sixers
By Joe Tansey
Published:
There’s no goodwill left around Joel Embiid.
But what if he stays healthy this season?
And what if, in a year in which a handful of the Eastern Conference’s stars are sidelined, the Sixers put it all together?
Okay, that’s probably not going to happen. It’s the Sixers and one of the stars will be downed by a fluke injury before Thanksgiving, but for the five people out there that still believe, let’s just have some fun here.
The Sixers’ win total is Over/Under 43.5 at bet365.
A year ago, 44 wins was good enough to finish inside the top six in the East. Forty-seven wins were needed two years ago to avoid the play-in round.
Cleveland and New York are in good health and are expected to be at the top of the East, but then there’s Boston without Jayson Tatum, Indiana with no Tyrese Haliburton, and Milwaukee with Giannis but no Damian Lillard.
Sure, Orlando and Detroit can take the next step, but at their best are they really that far out of reach for the Sixers to catch? A lineup of Embiid, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain, and Kelly Oubre with VJ Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes off the bench can do a lot of damage.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that comes with the massive caveat that everyone has to stay healthy, but, on paper, the Sixers are certainly better and deeper than Orlando and Detroit and likely one or more of Boston, Milwaukee, and Indiana in their current forms.
It’s an oddly-specific futures bet for both PA and NJ betting apps, but I’d sprinkle some money on the Sixers to be the No. 6 seed (+700), No. 5 seed (+800) or No. 4 seed (+800) at BetMGM. Again, not a ton of money, but it’s plausible that the best-case scenario pans out for these props.
And now for my last delusional thought: What if, just what if Joel Embiid is back? Embiid to win the MVP at +12500 at bet365 isn’t unreasonable, right?
If he’s back to scoring 30 points per game and the Sixers make the playoffs outright, or even finish in the top four in the East, the narrative will absolutely develop around the big man.
Of course, he’s gotta play 65 games, which he’s only done twice in his career, but in the Sixers’ best-case scenario, Embiid is at least an MVP contender and belief in the Sixers rises up like a phoenix.
I get it, I’m living in a fantasy world, but screw it, someone has to be the last bastion of belief.
Joe Tansey writes sports betting posts for Crossing Broad and also covers the Philadelphia Union for his Substack site, Union Soccer Blog.