If the NBA off-season was a beauty pageant, then the month of June would be the swimsuit part of the competition and July would be the talent portion of the event.

It’s time for this year’s beauty pageant to enter the talent part of the competition.

Beginning Sunday at Orlando’s NBA summer league event, it won’t be the wins and losses that matter the most, it will be individual performances.  Talent, hard work and hustle will determine who makes NBA rosters this fall.

For the 76ers summer team roster now is the time to impress GM Sam Hinkie.  It wont be easy however as there is no shortage of big names at this year’s OPSL.  Hopefully the 7-6 gained some momentum from their scrimmage yesterday vs. the Utah Jazz and are ready to showcase their skills.

After the jump, a look at the foes in Orlando as well as the Sixers schedule for the OPSL…

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Heading into tonight’s game, the 76ers face a Washington Wizards team that has a similar record and future outlook going forward, if you are only looking at things on the surface.  

As you peek down the rabbit hole, that judgement seems wrong.  It also depends on how you are looking at things as well as your opinion on what you want out of a bright future.  

Since it seems obvious that the 76ers aren’t going to tank in 2013-14 for Wiggins, there is no doubt that Washington is right now in a better place than the 76ers.

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On Wednesday night in Minnesota, the Sixers will start the final stretch of the 2012-13 season.  To say that this year has been a disappointment so far is an understatement.  During the Bynum-less first 51 games of this season, Collins & Co. have racked up only 22 wins and at times have been simply unwatchable. 

They currently sit in 9th place, four games back of the Milwaukee Bucks in the race for the 8^th and final spot in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.  Not helping matters is the fact that the Bucks are 3-0 vs. the Sixers this season.  Simply put,  a push to the playoffs is going to take a monumental effort. 

But in the NBA nothing is impossible.  The Sixers have 31 games remaining, which if they can get everybody healthy should be plenty of time to right the ship and make the playoffs.

However, if everyone doesn’t get healthy these last 31 games could be difficult to witness.  

After the jump four Philadunkia scribes will give you their thoughts on what will happen with the Sixers over the final 31 games of the 2012-13 season.

 
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Tonight the 76ers (1-1) will hit the hardwood down at the Wells Fargo Center for the first time this pre-season as they take on the Boston Celtics in their 3^rd preseason game.  Personally, I’d like to see the Sixers bounce back from their overtime loss to the Nets and the lackluster performance against a bad Orlando team with a big W tonight.

However in the pre-season certain things are more importnat than wins and losses.  So with an eye on the start of the regular season and the eventual return of Andrew Bynum, I will be taking notes on three items with this 76ers roster tonight.  

1)  Seeing what Moultrie can do with extended mintues.

Rumor has it that rookie Arnett Moultrie (pic at left) will be getting the start tonight for the 7-6.  This makes sense especially because earlier in the day the 76ers tweeted that Kwame Brown will not be active tonight.  Also Kevin Garnett will more than likely according to Doc Rivers not play tonight, which means Moultrie should put up some big numbers and get some confidence flowing.  With only two points on Saturday against the Nets in 11 minutes of action I’d like to see Arnett get plenty of burn and be more aggressive in attacking the rim.

 
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Now that the excitement from the Andrew Bynum trade and the chaotic introductory press conference that followed has died down a little, it’s time to ponder the starting lineup options Doug Collins will have to choose from in 2012-13.  To say there are a number of different ways Collins could go with his first-five is an understatement.

It’s a stone-cold-lock that Jrue Holiday and Andrew Bynum will hear their names called on a nightly basis when the Sixers are introduced prior to tip off.  However after those two, the three remaining starting spots are wide open.  Will Collins go with shooter heavy starting five that includes J-Rich and Dorell Wright?  Will Evan Turner finally get a real opportunity to prove he is a starter in this League?  Will Collins stand behind the statement he made in July and run Hawes out as the Sixers starting power forward?  Does Collins think Lavoy is more then just a role player on this team? 

Really, only Doug knows right now, but after the jump the Philadunkia scribes try to predict who will take the floor in DC’s starting line up on opening night. 

 
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To say that it has been a busy summer in the Atlantic Division from a trades, signings and transactions stand point is an understatement.  Boston, Brooklyn and New York pulled off several headline making moves.  The Sixers made numerous changes to their 2011-12 squad, and the Raptors, well the Raps executed some nice tweaks as well.

Now that the 2012-2013 NBA squads are pretty much set, it’s time to take a look at each Atlantic Division team’s roster to get an idea of how they fit together and how the teams could end up in the standings.

As best as possible, I’ll use the top players on each team at their respective positions.  The order of players was determined by how they are projected to produce during the 2012-2013 season.

After the jump an early and unique Atlantic Division preview…

 
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Much to our excitement, the 76ers schedule for 2012-13 schedule was released yesterday.  And while there are still some decisions to be made about the Sixers roster as well of those of the rest of the NBA, we took a stab at analyzing the upcoming 82-game slate.

Since most NBA rosters are no yet finalized, we had to make a lot of asssumptions based on what the teams looked like last year and the pieces they have subtracted and/or added this off-season, so we reserve the right to make some changes after the free agent season comes to a halt. 

With those assumptions in mind we believe Sixers fans will be very pleased to learn that after a potentially brutal kickoff to the 2012-13 season, we are predicting a solid first month for the Sixers in 2012-13.  However, a fast start may be cancelled out completely if the 7-6 can not keep it together during the brutal stretch the scheduling gods have planned for Doug Collins and Co. in December. 

Merry Christmas Philadunkia nation, from the NBA scheduling gods. 

 
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As the League continues to swirl amidst free agent rumors, trade demands, offer-sheets and amnesty cases, the 2012 NBA Draft picks and other NBA hopefuls are gearing up for the summer league action.

As you probably know, the 76ers will join the Orlando Magic, Brooklyn Nets, Boston Celtic, Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder, Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons in Orlando for the AirTran Airways Orlando Pro Summer League from July 9 – 13.  The 7-6′s first game is tonight at 5pm vs. the Indiana Pacers. 

The Sixers roster is headlined by recent first-round pick Maurice Harkless and  “Big Nik” Vucevic who in 2011-12 went from valued reserve to starter to DNP-CD.  Unfortunately Arnett Moutlrie who was acquired from the Miami Heat through a draft-night trade, will be unable to play due to a severe left ankle sprain. 

After the jump we’ll look at the names and bios of the players that will make up the 76ers 2012 OPSL roster… 

 
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The 2012 NBA Draft is just hours away and unless you have been living under The Commodore Barry Bridge, you know what holes the 76ers will be looking to fill tonight.  We have discussed in detail here at Philadunkia that the Sixers’ ills include shooting guard, power forward and center.  Our hope is that tonight Doug Collins finds a player with the #15 pick (or via a trade) that will immediately solve one of those issues.

We showed you what all the “experts” and NBA scouts think of the players that should be available when the Sixers are put on the clock tonight and now it’s time for the scribes here at Philadunkia to predict what the 7-6 will do with the 15th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.  Will it be a SG with a smooth stroke?  Or an athletic power forward who replaces Elton Brand in the starting five by the All-Star Break?  Or will the Sixers take a bit of a flier and grab one of the “upside” 7-footers still on the board in the mid-first round? 

Really, only DC knows what is going to happen in Newark tonight, but after the jump Philadunkia’s own takes a stab at predicting who the 76ers will pick …

 
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Alright, NOW tonight is officially the most important game the current roster of 76ers has ever played in. 

Win and it’s on to the Eastern Conference Finals, a place no one, not even the most dedicated member of Philadunkia nation believed we could go.  Suffer a loss and it’s a lock that tonight is the last time you’ll all be together in the Sixers locker room.

Really there’s not much else left to say.

So just go out and win the damn thing. 

Tonight, prove all the “experts” wrong.  Go out there and play your asses off; end the hated Boston Celtics season and send “The Big Three” into trade bait mode. 

It’s that simple.  Now go do it.

Our Game 7 predictions after the jump.

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