October 17, 2022
The Sixers are running it back with the big three of Joel Embiid, James Harden, and Tyrese Maxey, with a little more bench depth and grit behind them in P.J. Tucker, Danuel House Jr., and De'Anthony Melton.
Will this be the roster that finally breaks the Sixers past the second round and into the NBA Finals?
Daryl Morey and co. have made every effort to make sure that it is.
But they'll no doubt have their competition.
Let's take a look at the odds across several sportsbooks.
First up...
Heading into the new season, the Sixers are closer to the top of the list of title favorites, but across a handful of sportsbooks, a few teams are favored ahead of them.
It's mostly the Celtics, Bucks, Warriors, and in some cases even the Nets as maybe the ultimate boom-or-bust team (Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons could work or be an absolute tire fire, either way, they'll be capturing headlines all year).
Golden State is returning as the defending champion and Boston as the defending Eastern Conference champion, but the Celtics are also down their head coach after Ime Udoka was suspended for the entirety of the 2022-23 season.
Still, neither team figures to be going anywhere, and Milwaukee, so long as they have Giannis Antetokounmpo, should be around for a while too.
The Sixers do have a theoretical path to the end, but they may need a lot to go right for it all to happen.
| Sportsbook | Sixers' Title Odds | Title Favorite(s) | Favorites' Odds |
| DraftKings | +1500 | Clippers, Warriors, Celtics | +600 each |
| FanDuel | +1300 | Bucks | +550 |
| UniBet | +1400 | Celtics, Bucks | +600 each |
| PointsBet | +1500 | Celtics | +600 |
And the heaviest battles of them all will most likely come from within their own conference.
The Sixers are projected to have around a 7-1 to 15-2 shot at the conference title, but the Bucks, Celtics, Nets (if it's a good day for them), and maybe even the Heat could all be battling them for it.
| Sportsbook | Sixers' Conference Odds | Favorite(s) | Favorites' Conference Odds |
| DraftKings | +750 | Celtics | +290 |
| FanDuel | +700 | Bucks | +260 |
| UniBet | +700 | Celtics, Bucks | +275 |
| PointsBet | +700 | Celtics | +275 |
The Sixers finished the regular-season 51-31 for fourth in the Eastern Conference last season, so the line for the 2022-23 campaign across most sportsbooks has been set at 51.5.
Keep in mind, rest and playoff positioning will likely play factors in the final month of the season.
| Sportsbook | Sixers Wins O/U |
| DraftKings | 50.5 (-130 O, +110 U) |
| FanDuel | 50.5 (-142 O, +116 U) |
| UniBet | 50.5 (-134 O, +100 U) |
| PointsBet | 51.5 (-125 O, -105 U) |
Divisions in the NBA haven't mattered in forever. I don't know why the league has kept them around. Even so, the Sixers are at +300 to win the Atlantic on DraftKings behind the Nets (+185) and the Celtics (+135).
Boston won the division last year but probably didn't care because they were trying to catch the Heat. It had zero effect on playoff seeding, but I guess it's another shirt to buy.
Joel Embiid has put up MVP-worthy campaigns the past two seasons but fell short in the vote both times to Denver's Nikola Jokić.
Now sportsbooks are seeing it as a race between Embiid, Antetokounmpo, and Dallas' Luka Dončić, with Dončić the favorite going in.
| Sportsbook | Embiid's MVP Odds | MVP Favorite | Favorite's Odds |
| DraftKings | +650 | Luka Dončić, DAL | +425 |
| FanDuel | +600 | Luka Dončić, DAL | +500 |
| UniBet | +550 | Luka Dončić, DAL | +450 |
| PointsBet | +600 | Luka Dončić, DAL | +425 |
The Sixers' and the NBA season begins Tuesday night in Boston.
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