The Fatal Flaws of the Eastern Conference Contenders! Plus, Awards and TV Talk!

LoweBackup center, I mean, people want to nitpick at it because of how much time Embiid will miss, but the Bona Huck -Porty and you slide Barlow up now and then trio, like that's not bad. I like Justin Edwards. I have a soft spot for him. We'll see what Phylon brings. Like the concerns for me are just obviously health and age with Embiid and LeBron respectively.

LoweAnd I'm a little like, I'm a little interested in where this team can get to defensively. Like, can they be the 10th, 11th best defense in the league with Embiid's mobility? They were a bad rebounding team last year and not much better with Embiid on the floor. That's about it, right? I don't think there's any, we're breaking any ground there.

LoweYeah, I think the biggest,

Goldsberrybiggest red flag is defense. And if you look at NBA history, the way you and I have through the Dean Oliver stats, if you're not a top half defense, you're in big trouble. And I, if I had to predict the defensive rating ranking of the Philadelphia 76ers right now, I think I would choose 19, 20.

GoldsberryI don't think there's a lot of young, energetic defenders on that side. And then on offense, I would just add the cliche. There's only one basketball thing. That's less of a concern for me. You're going to hear that a lot this preseason. But for me, both the Lakers and the Sixers, they have that same concern.

GoldsberryI was like, show me the defense because I don't think it's going to show up.

LoweI think the offense is going to be fun.