After an undefeated pre-season and the first regular season game starting in less than 40 minutes, I felt obligated to give my opinion on the 2012-13 Philadelphia 76ers. Major, and I do mean major, losses were Igoudala and Sweet Lou Williams. Minor losses were Elton Brand and Jodie Meeks. Key pickups for this season are Nick Young, Dorrell Wright, Jason Richardson, and Arnett Moultrie. And let’s not forget the obvious big Center they acquired in the offseason, Kwame Brown. Err Andrew Bynum. As Doug Collins said “he took the team last season as far as they could go with that talent but they needed to take some “intelligent risks.” I like what they did in terms of roster moves. But what about their chemistry?

I think this team is a 44 win team without Bynum and a 50 win team with him. I wouldn’t be shocked if Bynum plays less than 50 games this season the way the Sixers are being so selective in what they are feeding the media. Young, Wright, and Richardson all offer some scoring which the Sixers desperately need but, and this is complete guess, they lack on the defensive end. Thadeus supposedly put on 20 pounds in the off-season and he will be their starting power forward which has me concerned because he’s more of a push the pace, off the bench, scrappy player compared to a bruiser. Evan Turner is still unproven in my mind and will need to develop a jump shot. Spencer Hawes makes the 3rd most on the team at 6 million this year which is a bit high for what he brings. I see him as a PF which leaves no real center. Lavoy has a nice touch but just isn’t tough enough to play center. It really all comes down to Kwame and how many points he feels like scoring a game.

This team is certainly no joke and the one player, and best player, I didn’t mention is Jrue Holiday. He will be the play maker and leader of this team and this season will depend upon his maturity. He’s going to have to be the glue to this team which they lacked with Igoudala at the helm. I believe his supporting cast is quite talented this year and the Sixers have a good shot to make a playoff run WITH BYNUM IN THE LINEUP. This is a huge if. They are completely undersized without him in the lineup and will have to win games by playing better TEAM basketball than opposing teams. They did this fairly well last year but there were certainly times when the sputtered. I think this team will be better than last year but I’m not completely sold. I’ll re-evaluate after watching a couple games. But one thing is absolutely for certain, I will be watching.

IN KWAME WE TRUST