Can the Philadelphia 76ers really make the Eastern Conference Finals?

The Philadelphia 76ers are good, but are they really good enough to make the Eastern Conference Finals? Apparently, Paul Pierce thinks so.

If you happened to catch The Jump on ESPN today, you were treated to one heck of a hot take on the Philadelphia 76ers by none other than Boston Celtics great Paul Pierce.

When asked how dangerous the Sixers would be to face off against in the playoffs, Pierce went out on a limb and declared: “This team could make it to the Eastern Conference Final” while comparing the team to his 2001-2002 Celtics, which is pretty high praise if you’d ask me.

And while some, like Brian Windhorst, gawked at his resounding endorsement, Pierce actually made some solid points, especially after the Eastern Conference recent string of shake-ups.

Sure, the team could still have to face off against the top-ranked Toronto Raptors at some point in the playoffs, but between Kyrie Irving‘s recent knee injury, which required surgery, and the dysfunction in Cleveland, it’s hard to find a truly insurmountable foe.

While some will be quick to point out that Brett Brown‘s squad lacks the playoff experience typically held by true contenders, Bryan Colangelo and company have done an amazing job of adding experienced scorers like Amir Johnson, J.J. Redick, Ersan Ilyasova, and Marco Belinelli to pad out the team’s young core, in a string of moves that have paid major dividends so far in 2018. This mix of youth and experience, when coupled with the unique skillset of Joel Embiid makes the 76ers an incredibly hard out for any team in the playoffs, and now, less then a month away from the playoffs the team is about to get even better.

On March 26th news broke that Markelle Fultz will finally be available to play moving forward, and his inclusion could give the team yet another bench scorer to further upgrade their offensive firepower in route to their first playoff push in over half of a decade.

Once upon a time (all the way back in 2017), the idea of the 76ers making the playoffs was far from a guarantee, but now, mere months later, the fact that national pundits are even talking about the team making an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals is pretty amazing, regardless of their eventual performance. These are truly great times in the Delaware Valley, and even former conference rivals like Pierce are starting to take notice.

Between the talk of LeBron James in 2018, the return of Fultz, and the idea of adding yet another quality player in the 2018 NBA Draft, Philly fans are finally getting their just deserts and with the team now officially a lock to make the playoffs, this is only the beginning.

Next: Markelle Fultz is finally set to return

With the Philadelphia 76ers now targeting a 50 win season, a feat they haven’t accomplished in almost two decades, maybe it’s time for the team to get more respect on the national stage.