Aug. 27, 2026, 7:01 a.m. ET
The Philadelphia 76ers have been the winners of the offseason as they have beefed up their roster to make a serious run in the playoffs. With that being said, championships are not won in July and August. It will be interesting to see how the Sixers can mesh and figure it out as they head into the 2026-27 season.
The challenge for Philadelphia will be to take down the defending champion New York Knicks led by finals MVP Jalen Brunson. The Knicks have a ton of chemistry and have been able to go through the battles together as a group that led to them being champions. The Sixers will have to match that at some point.
ESPN predicts that the Sixers and Knicks will be the top contenders in the Eastern Conference in the upcoming season:
The Knicks and 76ers will vie for a spot in the NBA Finals, according to our forecast, a year after the two teams met in a second-round series, which New York won handily in four games. If the Knicks make it back to the conference finals, it will be the second time in the parity era (since 2019) that a defending champion reached that level the following season (the 2025-26 Thunder were the first).
New York’s record run through the playoffs and Finals cannot be ignored — nor can the moves the 76ers made in a shocking offseason. The acquisitions of Jaylen Brown and LeBron James are critical pieces to the team’s hopes of reaching its first conference finals since 2001.
As mentioned, it will not be a walk in the park. The Sixers will have plenty of work to do in the upcoming season to match up against a team like the Knicks, but the talent is there. Philadelphia will need to figure out chemistry and the offensive hierarchy and such, but one has to believe due to the talent and basketball IQ on the roster, they will figure it out.
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