PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers enter the season under immense pressure to win after a star-studded offseason that added LeBron James to a roster built around former regular-season MVP Joel Embiid, creating the most formidable lineup the franchise has had in this decade and setting up what is described as the most consequential year in franchise history.
Philadelphia's summer was compared to Miami welcoming its big three 16 years ago, with James the common thread nearly two decades after his first decision. The 76ers, who already featured an extremely talented young backcourt, added two NBA Finals MVPs to their former regular-season MVP. When moves like those are made, it is championship or bust with no margin for error and no excuses. Even before signing James it was already an immensely important year in Philly, but the self-proclaimed best player of all time brings expectations no other player in history carries and pressure to win every night.
The stakes are magnified by history. Philadelphia has not made the conference finals since 2001, and if that trend continues this season it will be viewed as a massive failure. The books expect a breakthrough, with the 76ers tied with Boston for the second-highest win total in the Eastern Conference behind New York at 51.5. The initial instinct is that health for Embiid and James and the overwhelming consensus that Philadelphia won the Brown trade could weigh on the team, though Brown just won 56 games last year with a lesser roster on his old team.
Even if Embiid and James play 50 or so games, the talent of Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecomb mixed with the experience of the frontcourt, coach and bench makes it difficult to project fewer than 51 wins. The desire to fade the public and take the under is strong, but the roster's star power points to a team built to win a lot.