The cliffhanger for the 70 Sixers.

A long running trope for this particular team, the Simmons and Embiid duo.

I mean, you still believe this duo can win at the highest level.

I believe in still giving it a chance.

Yes.

I think these two guys are very, very elite talents at different positions.

Have it hasn't always click together.

No, but I think there's definitely things that could be done before we give up on this experiment.

Yeah, I wouldn't give up on it.

I think what they did by moving Al Horford and now they're gonna play all spacing.

Uh, toe highlight Their two best players is going to change things for him.

Nothing makes your best player look better than shooting When you got a lot of shooters around.

I know we had LeBron and the way we sweep act that team with different guys that can shoot the ball, and that just made them look that much better.

And so the Sixers have done that with the roster.

I think they got a coach who has a chip on his shoulder right now.

Who wants toe really prove himself again?

Reprove after already winning the title.

But he's obviously gotten a lot of criticism from media and even players on his old team about how they used them.

And I just think Doc is gonna come in with a serious chip.

He's gonna get these guys to play together and connect and think about it.

There is so bad on the road, What is the road about?

The road is about team connection because it's just you out there and they didn't have that last year for whatever reasons and hopefully dot commend that.

Yeah, and I think that is certainly something that they have to address.

There's no question.

Now, look, I picked the Sixers to come out of the East last year in the preseason during on ESPN dot com.

I don't know if I'm going down that path just yet, but I do believe in this duo.

If if you look at their surrounding cast, as you pointed out for his ah couple of years ago, they had JJ Reddick, Orson Ilyasova, Marco Belinelli on that team, Simmons and Embiid that year their net rating was like plus 18 or something like that.

Then the next year it was just JJ right.

They brought in Jimmy.

They brought it and less shooting, though Now I think that got cut in half.

It was like plus nine.

Basically, Last year it was like 1.6 plus 1.6 or something like that.

They need the spacing.

I think that is the biggest key for them.

It allows them to Rome and play their game.

All right.

Next The plot twist over the offseason Waas The hiring of Doc Rivers fizz.

What changes most with Dr the Help?

I think his edge.

I just think Doc is at a place where after how it went down with the Clippers, I think he's coming in there with a serious edge and he's gonna make sure that they have it.

I think Brown last year was put in a tough position.

It all kind of came tumbling down on him.

But you know, that had festered over time and I know he did a lot of work to try to fix it.

But they moved to dock and I think Doc coming in with that championship or bust attitude and M B coming in in the best shape of his life, will put them in a place for that.

They're gonna be a dangerous team.

Yeah, And coach, you know, you know, there's Sometimes all it needs is a fresh voice, a fresh set of eyes, looking things.

You know, Brett, as you said, I've been there for so long.

It's hard to make drastic changes when you've been there for so long, and everyone's kind of gotten used to one way.

With Doc coming in, he could suggest some radical things, and everyone's gonna say, Well, that's what the new coach wants.

The other thing is, you look at and beat you.

Look at all the bigs that have played in the Doc Rivers, whether it was DeAndre Jordan, Kendrick Perkins going all the way back to Ben Wallace in Orlando, Doc has a way of unlocking Biggs and getting them their full potential, and indeed is clearly more talent than any of those names that I just named.

I'm excited to see what doctors do their and also in terms of the play calling, You know, one of the things that I love that they used to do with the Clippers was Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, what they called a snug pick and roll.

It was so low is almost down on the baseline.

You can't go under.

You can't do anything there so close to the basket.

It's very hard to defend.

I want to see Simmons and Embiid do something like that that way.

Taking Simmons lack of shooting out of the equation.

I think Doc is gonna be great for this team.

Yeah.

No, I agree wholeheartedly.

You guys nailed it.

And Doc is going to really emphasize the defensive end and understanding how to make each other better and share the ball.

And I think that's where that team is gonna come together.

And I got him being the number two team in the East right now.

Who?

I don't know if I put it out there.

Yeah, well, I know no there.

I think that you could take those first five or six teams superstars.

They got to star, No doubt.

Okay, let's move on.

Let's move on.

Let's get the spoiler alert because we could talk about the spoiler alert.

Now Caesar's William Hill gives the Sixers tied for the fifth best chance of winning the East.

So fizz your bold prediction is second for Philly.

Now I look at those teams.

Bucks, Nets, Celtics, heat, Sixers, Raptors, man.

You could throw them all in the bowl, pick out, you know, names.

And that could be the order because they're all that close, I think, in regards to their style of play, their rosters, etcetera.

Yeah, and I just think at the end of the day, you got two monsters on the same team and they are a matchup problem for most teams that they're gonna face.

And let's be honest, they've underachieved to this point.

No way that Miami should be going past them right now.

Toronto shouldn't be blowing past them right now.

And the Celtics and them should be, you know, fighting it out.

Now.

Brooklyn's in the mix.

I'm giving Philly the nod to number.

Okay.

I mean, look, uh, coach Brooklyn got two monsters.

Boston's got a couple of monsters.

Milwaukee got the monster of all monsters there with the $229 million monster.

And Miami.

While they may not be fully fledged monsters, they are deep.

They got a lot of monsters over there and they run together.

And I think the continuity of Boston Milwaukee and Miami.

That's what I'm putting them ahead in terms of Equation and then Brooklyn.

I just have a lot more faith in Kyrie and Kevin Durant to get on the same page quicker than what the Sixers air going through.

It's a transformation, and I think the Sixers will be good.

But I'm going chalk here.

George, I'm going 50 in the East.

Yeah, I honestly I'm with a mean coach.

Like I think there are four or five in that range.

Like I look at Brooklyn, Milwaukee Milwaukee will win the regular season again.

I think Brooklyn will come out of the East.

I had them spoiler alert.

It's probably gonna come on ESPN dot com.

I have them in Miami in the conference finals.

Um, but I just see Phillies in that kind of four.

You know, five range.

Boston's gonna be in there.

I'm curious to what Kemba looks like with the injury situation, but I think they're in that four or five fighting for home court advantages.

Boston Better than they were last year.

We don't know.

I don't know.

Gordon Hayward is a big, big piece.

Eso and Toronto lost Ibaka Gasol.

Yeah, I mean, the the East of shifting.

And I'm talking about a Philly team that's connected in the Philly team that has an M B that's in shape with a championship coaching Doc Rivers and more spacing.

Seth, Danny Green bunch of the guys.

They're only gonna play space for us.

Watch out!

Yeah, Thanks for watching ESPN on YouTube for live streaming sports and premium content.

Subscribe Thio, ESPN, plus.