Sixers back on short list of NBA commodities as schedule bets big on Joel Embiid, James Harden

The NBA is betting big on James Harden, Joel Embiid, and the 76ers.

That’s the story of Schedule Day.

There aren’t a whole lot of uncontrived insights that one can glean from the slate of games that the NBA released on Wednesday afternoon. We already knew the identity of the Sixers’ 82 opponents. The only question was the order in which the games would be played. But, hey, if logistics are your thing, go on and have a day.

» READ MORE: The Sixers announced their schedule for the 2022-23 NBA season

Otherwise, let’s try to zero in on the small handful of notable takeaways from the Sixers’ 2022-23 schedule. Together, they add up to one significant observation: After a two-year hiatus, the Sixers are back on the short list of NBA commodities.

The Celtics were a major character throughout Act I of the Sixers’ emergence on the national stage. They swept the Sixers in the second round of the playoffs to end Year 1 of the Joel Embiid-Ben Simmons era. The following year, they hosted the Sixers on Christmas Day at TD Bank Arena. The NBA clearly saw the Sixers and Celtics as a rivalry that could help propel the Eastern Conference into a new and more viewer-friendly era.

And then the Sixers traded Jimmy Butler for Josh Richardson and spent $100 million on Al Horford.

Coincidentally, Richardson and Horford would both go on to become Celtics and play a major role in Boston’s run to the 2022 NBA Finals — Richardson as a trade chip for Derrick White, Horford as an actual player.

The Sixers? They took a bit of a break. But they are clearly back now, as evidenced by the NBA’s decision to make them one of the first two teams they will introduce to a national television audience this season. The Sixers open the season on Oct. 18 in Boston against the Celtics on TNT, opening tip at 7:30 p.m. There are only two questions. Will Kevin Durant be on the court? Which jersey will he be wearing?

But let’s not let that overshadow the fact that the Sixers will actually be on TV on Christmas Day. Back at the beginning of the Simmons-Embiid era, when the world was young and nobody knew what an N95 was, the Sixers looked like they would be a holiday fixture. But then came Burnergate and Horford and Richardson and Brett Brown not only pretending to be a coach but also a general manager. Needless to say, the NBA decided to start looking for a team that was less of a threat to ruin its fan base’s Christmas. And that was that.

Until now.

Granted, the NBA is forcing the Sixers to spend its Christmas morning at the Dolan household, so we can’t consider this a full-throated endorsement on the direction the franchise has taken. That being said, Sixers-Knicks is at least a sign that a return to national relevance is nigh. Worse comes to worst, it’s something to watch at noon on Christmas that isn’t the Aloha Bowl.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that there’s never been an August like the one that currently looms over the top of the Eastern Conference. Last year at this time, the Nets were widely considered to be one of the NBA’s leading title favorites, specifically because they had a lineup that featured James Harden, Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving. Now, Harden is in Philly. Meanwhile, Durant and Irving are widely presumed to be on their way out of Brooklyn. Not only that, but the Celtics and the Heat are believed to be two of the leading contenders to land them.

» READ MORE: Ben Simmons and the Sixers had six wasted years together. His tenure teaches us one important lesson.

Given the pace of the NBA news cycle, the current state of play probably feels far less remarkable than it should. Imagine if somebody had told you last year at this time that the Celtics and Heat would be vying for Durant, and that the Sixers would already have Harden, and that Irving would also be on his way out of Brooklyn. Yet, here we are.

Until we get beyond here, I’m not sure how much we can actually say about this schedule. The whole thing hinges on where Durant ends up, and how everybody adapts from there. Maybe he stays in Brooklyn. In which case, that completely changes how the Nets fit into the grand scheme of this thing.

For now, the Sixers can at least take comfort in the fact that their roster is as settled as any of the contenders. The NBA is certainly buying it.