The 2012-13 season is nearly upon us and nobody has been more critical of the moves made by the 7-6′s front office this summer than myself.  That being said, I believe that this team can certainly end up being a top 4 playoff seed at the end of the regular season.

In this post I will detail the 10 keys to maximizing the team’s success in 2012-13.  The closer these 10 things come to happening, the better chance this team has to be elite this season.  One overlooked part of the Bynum trade was how the potential minute distribution was so positively affected.  Many of the keys to the season have already been detailed on this site and some are new thoughts about a successful 2013 season.

After the jump, my 10 keys to a successful 2012-13 season for the new look 76ers…

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Jrue Holiday needs to take his game to the next level this season and the addition of Andrew Bynum should act as a supercharger to Holiday’s progression.  The main factors in becoming an elite guard for Holiday are an increase in 3pt attempts and attacking the basket.  The offense should be set much differently then the past few seasons because there are only two ball handlers on the team compared to four last year.  This means that Holiday will be the primary initiator of the offense for the first time in his career.  Defensively, Holiday has all the tools to become a top tier NBA defender for years to come.  

The 3pt shooting is the quick and easy part.  Attacking the basket is going to prove a more difficult task, but the addition of Bynum certainly helps.  To get an understanding of how lacking in these two categories Holiday has been, here are numbers from the past 2 seasons.  Holiday was 8th in total minutes played, 102nd in free throw attempts (tied with Gordon Hayward), and 73rd in made 3pt shots while shooting a very good 37%.  On defense, another year of growth and learning is all that Holiday really needs to continue his development on that end of the court.

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Although the addition of Andrew Bynum has deservedly dominated headlines of Philadelphia media in the wake of last week’s big blockbuster, Andrew wasn’t the only player the team acquired that could have a major impact this season.  If healthy, Jason Richardson has an opportunity to revitalize his career with the Sixers, as well as play a prominent part in the first season of the Bynum era here in Philadelphia.

While he may not be the athlete he once was when he was soaring to back-to-back slam dunk championships, Richardson still has significant basketball abilities.  His mainly skill as we know is shooting the ball and shooting it well.  That should prove to be a valuable asset to a young Sixer squad with suddenly high expectations.  Many have all but written off Richardson after an underwhelming, injury-plagued stint in Orlando, but there’s reason to believe that the 31 year old swing man, reportedly near full health, can still produce.

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