Sixers finish 5th in the East at 47-35

According to ESPN, the 200 million dollars the Sixers spent this off-season will earn them a whopping...7 wins.

Really? All the off-season moves, Elton Brand, young nucleus, lack of any other East team doing much and all we get is 7 wins ? That's what ESPN thinks, but we all know these so called "experts" have horrible predictions every year (Except for this year, when everyone's choosing the Cowboys make the Super Bowl). I'm on record saying the Sixers will be 52-30 next season and I'm sticking with it. And forget ESPN, this guy predicted the exact record of the Sixers last season.

As I said in my preview yesterday, I see the Sixers winning 40 games this year. A gain of five games on last year's total, but missing the playoffs. I think they're going to do this in much the same manner as last year. Their early schedule is difficult, to say the least, and they're going to need some time to get the younger guys into the mix. Come December, they're going to be surprising some people, by April they'll be pushing for the playoffs.

On the other hand, here's what ESPN had:

ANALYST	PREDICTION
J.A. Adande ESPN.com	ATLANTIC: 5 | EAST: 15 Bad sign: when you're more impressed by the playing skills of the coaching staff (Maurice Cheeks, Henry Bibby, Moses Malone, Aaron McKie) than of the guys on the roster.
Greg Anthony ESPN.com	ATLANTIC: 5 | EAST: 14 The emergence of Andre Iguodala is a positive, and it will help Kyle Korver and Samuel Dalembert. Still, this is a team that will struggle to win games.
Jon Barry ESPN.com	ATLANTIC: 5 | EAST: 15 Brutal, just brutal. Young team, trying to build. The main question is if Andre Iguodala is the man capable of building the future around.
Chris Broussard ESPN Mag	ATLANTIC: 5 | EAST: 15 Last season's late surge sans AI was fool's gold. The Sixers will be bad. Real bad. The only suspense will be waiting to see if Larry Brown replaces buddy and protégé Maurice Cheeks on the bench.
Ric Bucher ESPN Mag	ATLANTIC: 4 | EAST: 10 They're 4th only because I'm a believer in chemistry and I like theirs more than the Knicks'. Besides, if they falter, they can turn to a Larry Brown dying to prove he can still coach.
Chad Ford ESPN.com	ATLANTIC: 5 | EAST: 15 I can envision projections nine to 14 as potential playoff teams if everything goes right. Philly? I can't see the Sixers making a serious run at 30 wins, let alone the playoffs. Andre Iguodala is good. Everyone else? Decent at best.
Jemele Hill ESPN.com	ATLANTIC: 5 | EAST: 15 The split with AI was necessary, but this next couple of years will be painful to watch. Unless this team is running, they're stuck -- it'll be a miracle when they score in a half-court set.
John Hollinger ESPN.com	ATLANTIC: 5 | EAST: 15 Had a great run to end last season, but that will mean little when the new one starts. Sixers are working their way out of cap hell and have some nice young pieces, but don't have nearly enough talent.
Chris Sheridan ESPN.com	ATLANTIC: 5 | EAST: 14 The only person on the Sixers we expect to exceed expectations this season is Louis Williams. Billy King's No. 1 priority should be to try to move Samuel Dalembert by midseason. Hard to see them overachieving as much as they did at the end of last season.
Marc Stein ESPN.com	ATLANTIC: 5 | EAST: 15 No one's calling it the Titanic Division any more, but the Sixers aren't exactly at the heart of the Atlantic's renaissance. The first full season AAI (After Allen Iverson) is going to be rough with no big changes, no real stars and seemingly everyone else moving and shaking.

Wooooow. One "expert" predicted the Sixers would not finish last in the Atlantic. Bravo guys. This is the reason we won't dwell too much on your 47-35 prediction.

Just for the heck of it, let's see the "experts" predictions for the eventual NBA Finals teams.

Celtics:

ANALYST	PREDICTION
J.A. Adande ESPN.com	ATLANTIC: 1 | EAST: 2 None of the new big three has played in the NBA Finals yet. They'll need at least a year together before they're ready to take that step. Rajon Rondo will matter less -- but play better -- than people expect.
Greg Anthony ESPN.com	ATLANTIC: 1 | EAST: 3 A much-improved defensive team with the firepower of KG's best Wolves team but playing in the weaker East. Posey's perimeter D is a key. House's role will be important, as will Rondo's development.
Jon Barry ESPN.com	ATLANTIC: 1 | EAST: 2 Expectations are NBA Finals or bust, but I don't think they have the team to win it. With Ray Allen and KG, this will be the team to beat in the East. Big questions: point guard and bench.
Chris Broussard ESPN Mag	ATLANTIC: 1 | EAST: 2 The big three will be awesome, as Garnett will battle LeBron for MVP honors. James Posey and Eddie House will bolster the bench, but Boston's lack of depth in frontcourt is major concern. Kendrick Perkins has to stay out of foul trouble, and Leon Powe has to become a reliable bruiser.
Ric Bucher ESPN Mag	ATLANTIC: 2 | EAST: 5 The Kool-aid remains untouched in this corner. Playoff team, yes. Title contender? Everybody has evidently forgotten how much depth and transition D divide the haves and have-nots in the postseason. They're about to be reminded.
Chad Ford ESPN.com	ATLANTIC: 1 | EAST: 2 The C's will not only be successful, they'll be really fun to watch. If KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce all stay healthy they'll be playing (and possibly beating) the Pistons in the conference finals. But if one (or more) of that trio goes down, it will get ugly.
Jemele Hill ESPN.com	ATLANTIC: 1 | EAST: 3 I love the big three, but I'm not convinced the Celts will win the East the first time out with their new toys. Can't overlook the thin bench or that it will take time for the trio to blend (See: Iverson, Allen and Anthony, Carmelo).
John Hollinger ESPN.com	ATLANTIC: 1 | EAST: 3 Despite my doubts as to whether the new trio of Allen, Pierce and Garnett has enough help to have a realistic shot at winning the East, they should win the division easily and cruise into Round 2 of the playoffs.
Chris Sheridan ESPN.com	ATLANTIC: 2 | EAST: 6 What'll matter in Beantown is how the new Big Three perform over the final 41 games, not the first 41 when they're making adjustments. It's a go-for-broke season for Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers, who deserve credit for making the biggest overhaul of any team in the league.
Marc Stein ESPN.com	ATLANTIC: 1 | EAST: 1 You'll keep saying Boston doesn't have nearly enough around its new big three to go far ... and I'll keep responding by saying that this ain't 1987. In today's East, you can get to the Finals without a Bill Walton or Scott Wedman off the bench.

So, even with the huge off-season moves of the Celtics last season, only one person predicted them to win the East. And...

Lakers:

ANALYST	PREDICTION
J.A. Adande ESPN.com	PACIFIC: 3 | WEST: 9 Right now they're the wildest card in the deck. With Kobe Bryant they could squeeze into one of the last playoff spots. Without him they're lottery bound. Lamar Odom would become their best player by default, and he's played more than 64 games only once in three years as a Laker.
Greg Anthony ESPN.com	PACIFIC: 3 | WEST: 8 The cloud hangs over L.A. no matter what happens with Kobe. If he leaves, there's an adjustment period for the new players. If he stays, the question of if, and when, he will be traded will linger. Tough times.
Jon Barry ESPN.com	PACIFIC: 3 | WEST: 10 Quite miraculous they made playoffs last year. Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom are not a good tandem -- both are terrific individually -- but sometimes it just doesn't work together. I saw no improvement with Andrew Bynum throughout the year.
Chris Broussard ESPN Mag	PACIFIC: 3 | WEST: 9 If Kobe remains, he still won't be enough to get this crew into the playoffs. Injuries are a problem again, and team chemistry is -- and always will be -- horrible. The good news? Maybe a "to-heck-with-it'' Kobe will entertain us with another 81, or more.
Ric Bucher ESPN Mag	PACIFIC: 3 | WEST: 8 It hurts to see such a proud franchise be reactive, not proactive. Patching it up with Kobe was never going to happen, making the draft the time to trade him. Now they have to make a face-saving deal. Meanwhile, a season is wasted.
Chad Ford ESPN.com	PACIFIC: 2 | WEST: 9 If Kobe is happy and motivated, the Lakers are probably in line for the seventh seed. But if the melancholy Kobe we've seen in the preseason shows up, the Lakers will be in trouble. Kobe being halfhearted might be the final straw that gets him traded.
Jemele Hill ESPN.com	PACIFIC: 2 | WEST: 7 Assuming Kobe is still there, the Lakers will be wonderfully mediocre. Thankfully the Smush Parker era is over, but their frontcourt is still an eyesore. Let's see if Kobe makes it to midseason without taking out his frustration on someone.
John Hollinger ESPN.com	PACIFIC: 2 | WEST: 7 This prediction obviously assumes Kobe stays here all season, which is still where the smart money lies in my estimation. If not, revise this downward by 15 wins or so.
Chris Sheridan ESPN.com	PACIFIC: 2 | WEST: 9 With or without Kobe, they're no better than a 44-win team. They should be a terrific soap opera, however, so don't fall asleep on them. The clock is ticking on the next Kobe eruption.
Marc Stein ESPN.com	PACIFIC: 3 | WEST: 8 You have to believe that Kobe, after everything that was said in the offseason, is going to play with a chip on his shoulder so big that every other Laker can hop aboard. But it takes some serious faith to believe that Kobe and his chip will be Laker property for the whole season

No one picked the Lakers to finish above the 7th seed. Granted, these predictions were pre-Gasol, but if I remember correctly, the Lakers were one of the league's top teams with Kobe and Bynum.

That brings us to this year.

5	Philadelphia 76ers	47	35	.573	40	42	.488
Philly flipped from feeble to phenomenal in a few months last season, and the Elton Brand acquisition appears to have accelerated the Sixers' progress. But they need further growth from Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young and Lou Williams, plus another strong year from Andre Miller.

47 wins? I see the Sixers winning AT LEAST 50 games, which would put them in a tie for the number 2 and 3 seed with the Pistons and Cavs in ESPN's rankings. I just don't see how all the off-season moves, mainly Brand, along with an improving young nucleus and playoff experience only earns you 7 more wins. I'm fine with the prediction though. Everyone did the same thing with the Celtics last year, downplaying their huge off-season moves and look where they ended up. Plus, I like being the "underdog" much more than the favorite.

For all you Dr. J fans.

An answer to Tom Moore's question of who the two-guard should be.