Philadelphia 76ers Over/Under Win Total Prediction
For better or worse, the Philadelphia 76ers have been a staple in sports media throughout the off-season because of the uncertainty regarding superstar James Harden, and unsurprisingly, their projected over/under win total shows this uncertainty. The 76ers have the fourth-highest win total line of the Eastern Conference teams, trailing Milwaukee, Boston, and Cleveland.
Since this win totals became available to the public to bet on and James Harden continued to make his trade demands well known, this line has fluctuated accordingly. October 3rd marks day one of Philadelphia's training camp, and considering Harden did not attend media day, his intentions to leave Philadelphia remain firm.
While it may be hard to gauge the true potential of this team with one of the league's biggest superstars unwilling to cooperate with the team, they still have several key players, including reigning league MVP Joel Embiid.
Here are the 76ers NBA Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NBA Odds: Philadelphia 76ers Odds
Over: 48.5 wins (+110)
Under: 48.5 wins (-134)
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Why The 76ers Will Win 49 Games
The 76ers made one of the more impactful head coaching changes of any team this off-season. It hurt to fire future Hall of Fame coach Doc Rivers, but by doing so, they were able to attract one of the brightest minds in the NBA coaching sphere today. Nick Nurse comes to Philadelphia after a five-year stint in Toronto. In his time there, he led them to two 53+ win seasons in his first two years there and had only one sub-500 season with the team. With the abundance of talent on this roster, especially if Harden pulls a U-turn and decides to stay in Philadelphia, he will likely be able to replicate that same level of success.
With all of the drama and media coverage surrounding James Harden, people quickly forget that this team still has arguably the best player in the NBA. MVP winner Joel Embiid is coming off of a historic season where he led the league in points per game (for a second straight season) and tallied career highs in minutes per game, assists per game, and field goal percentage. Embiid is just now hitting his peak in the league and is only getting better. Therefore, if he can maintain this level of consistent excellence, the 76ers will have no problem without James Harden.
What will be most critical to this team's success, however, is the development of 2020 draft picks Tyrese Maxey and Paul Reed, both coming off of careers years a season ago. Especially Tyrese Maxey, who currently holds the second-best odds of winning the NBA's Most Improved Player Award for this season. As he aims to up his price when he re-signs with the 76ers, Maxey will have a lot to play for this season with this increased role.
Why The 76ers Will Not Win 49 Games
It is safe to say that all of the negative attention James Harden has brought upon himself has greatly damaged his legacy in the league. People have quickly forgotten his elite talents on the floor and how seamlessly he fits into the 76ers system. If Harden does not come back, they will surely be missing out on the 27.6 points per game he created off of assists alongside his 21.0 points per game. This production of being responsible for 48.6 points per game is something that every team in the league could not make up for if he were to leave.
Surprisingly enough, even though Joel Embiid was able to corral 10.2 rebounds per game for the team, the 76ers were one of the worst rebounding teams in the league last season. They ranked bottom five in the league in rebounds per game and had the fourth-lowest offensive rebounds per game in the league. Although they did bring in big man Mo Bamba to help with that issue, there was not enough done in the off-season to alleviate this problem. With their Eastern Conference rivals having top-tier rebounders such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Julius Randle, Clint Capela, etc., the pressure is on for this team to perform on the glass.
Final 76ers Over-Under Win Total Prediction
Given the uncertainty of the James Harden situation, one of the tougher teams in the league to predict is the 76ers. However, I will take the Over-win line for the 76ers this season. Not only is there plus money value on the Over line, but more than likely, even if the 76ers ship out James Harden, they have a win-now General Manager in Daryl Morrey and will likely be buyers at the trade deadline if some big names are available. He has to keep franchise centerpiece Joel Embiid happy to avoid a trade request from him, so as the season moves on, this team will continue to be aggressive.
Final 76ers Over-Under Win Total Prediction: Over 48.5 wins (+110)
