Daryl Morey’s internal projection system had this year’s Philadelphia 76ers as having the best chance of winning an NBA championship than any team he had previously assembled, including the Houston Rockets in 2018 that lost to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals.
The Sixers entered the season with the NBA’s fourth best odds of winning a title at 8-1 with an over/under of 51.5 regular season wins.
Morey’s proprietary system usually assigns title contenders as having between a five and 10 percent chance. Morey’s formula topped out at 70 percent when the Warriors acquired Kevin Durant ahead of the 16-17 season.
But the Sixers have struggled with injuries to each of Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey.
“Except for [Jared] McCain, everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong,” one team source said.