We are fewer than five weeks away from Sixers Media Day and the start of training camp, and at this juncture, we know what team the Sixers will bring to their five-day stay in The Bahamas: they have 14 players on NBA contracts, and Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey has repeatedly said that they will leave their final roster spot open for the time being to preserve some flexibility. 

But who and what will stand in their way across the league? In a new series, Sixers Ties, we're going to find every connection we can between the Sixers and each of the other 29 NBA teams -- sometimes these will be detailed thoughts about how the Sixers match up against a team, sometimes the focus will be interesting anecdotes.

Let's get started with the other four members of the Atlantic Division, featuring two teams that could give the Sixers plenty of problems and two that are entering long-term rebuilds:

Boston Celtics

If it was not already abundantly clear, it is now: the Celtics have become the gold standard in the Eastern Conference and in the NBA. Everybody must load up to try to keep pace with Boston after their 64-win season that culminated in a stunningly easy run to an NBA Finals victory.

Not only were the 2023-24 Celtics one of the single best teams in recent NBA history, but Boston's front office retained more of its key pieces than any championship team in the modern era: each of their top 11 players in minutes per game last season will be back for 2024-25.

For the Sixers to ever topple Boston, Joel Embiid must be far and away the best player on the floor for the entirety of the series. Even if he can accomplish that, co-stars Tyrese Maxey and Paul George must rise to the occasion as well.

On a slightly less urgent note, the Celtics do have three former Sixers on their roster: one of the best draft picks in Sixers history, Jrue Holiday has now been a crucial component of two different championship teams with a pair of organizations. That is not something a whole lot of people can say. Trading Holiday to the New Orleans Pelicans was the move that kickstarted what later became known as "The Process."

• MORE SIXERS
• One thought on each member of the Sixers' likely final roster
  
• Everything you need to know about the 2024-25 Sixers schedule
  
• Sixers film study: Will Paul George put the Sixers over the top?
• Sixers mailbag: Could Joel Embiid take a Jalen Brunson-esque discount on a contract extension?
  

While anybody who watched the 2019-20 Sixers play would like to forget about it, Al Horford did spend a disastrous year in Philadelphia. Horford often receives an oversized share of the blame for how brutal that team was, but it was inexcusable to ink him to a four-year, $109 million deal.

The Sixers decided they had invested enough time in young guard Jaden Springer last winter and dealt him to the Celtics for a second-round pick that turned into Adem Bona. In hindsight, I believe the deal makes sense on both sides: the Sixers, desperate for ready-made rotation players, parted ways with someone who was still not prepared to be a nightly contributor for a contending team. Meanwhile, a Celtics team that already had its rotation locked in took on a developmental project that could be fruitful one day. 

New York Knicks

While the basketball world agrees that signing George makes the Sixers a considerably bigger threat in the Eastern Conference, the consensus appears to be that they remain a step behind the team that eliminated them from last year's playoffs, the New York Knicks.

The Sixers are not the only team that added firepower: the Knicks traded a gargantuan collection of draft picks to the Brooklyn Nets for Mikal Bridges, the sharp two-way wing who was a Sixer for about 20 minutes before an infamous trade sent him to Phoenix.

Bridges is young, very good on both ends of the floor and, of course, went to Villanova. The Knicks' extreme interest in him is not hard to dissect -- of course, every NBA team would be thrilled to have Bridges on their roster. But the package -- headline by five first-round picks and a first-round pick swap -- is staggering. It is fair to question the deal; Bridges has never made an All-Star Game and was acquired for a collection of picks resembling one traditionally sent for a perennial All-NBA player.

In need of some ball-handling off the bench, the Knicks made a shrewd move and signed former Sixers point guard Cam Payne.  The ultimate spark plug, Payne's infectious energy and legitimate chops as "a creator of offense" -- as Sixers head coach Nick Nurse liked to call him -- make him a valuable asset to any team.

For those invested in the Sixers winning the NBA Cup -- formerly known as the In-Season Tournament -- you should be focused on the night of Nov. 12, when the Knicks come to Philadelphia for a critical game of Group Play that could determine which team wins their group and advances to the Knockout Rounds.

Toronto Raptors

Aside from the fact that Nurse's first NBA head coaching job came with the Raptors -- a five-year tenure that included a championship in his first season and an NBA Coach of the Year Award in his second season -- there are not a ton of connections between these two teams.

The Raptors have finally embraced a rebuild after letting Fred VanVleet walk in free agency and trading OG Anunoby to New York and Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers. Their primary cornerstone is Scottie Barnes, who inked a max rookie extension this summer.

Among their other building blocks is guard Immanuel Quickley, who happened to share a backcourt with Maxey when the two players were at the University of Kentucky. Maxey and Quickley are extremely close to this day. A fun tidbit: over the summer, Quickley agreed to a five-year deal worth a whopping $175 million to remain in Toronto. Maxey signed a five-year deal, $204 million contract to remain in Philadelphia. A combined $381 million is not too shabby for a pair of buddies.

Brooklyn Nets

For over a year, I felt the Nets needed to move Bridges as soon as they could: his value was massive (and rightfully so), but he was never leading them to relevance. To collect as many picks as they did for him is outstanding work, even if it signals a lengthy rebuilding process to come.

For salary cap reasons, the Bridges trade grew to include several players for salary cap purposes. One of those was former Sixers guard Shake Milton, who was sign-and-traded from New York to Brooklyn on a minuscule three-year deal with only one guaranteed season. Milton's stock has hit an all-time low after he failed to capitalize on an opportunity with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Nets signed young, athletic starting center Nic Claxton to a four-year, $97 million deal this summer. Claxton, 25, is a quality starting big in the NBA. He is not a former Sixer, but he does have a connection to the team: Brooklyn selected Claxton out of Georgia at No. 31 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft. A few months earlier, the Sixers traded them that draft choice in a deal that also sent Jahlil Okafor and Nik Stauskas to Brooklyn, with the Sixers receiving veteran Trevor Booker.

Three and a half months after the trade, the Sixers waived Booker to make roster space to sign Ersan Ilyasova in the buyout market. Booker finished that season with the Indiana Pacers and never appeared in the NBA again.

While anything could happen in a small sample size of NBA Cup Group Play, the Nets are certainly the least threatening of the Sixers' group mates this season.

The rebuilding Nets are not of concern to the Sixers moving forward, but Brooklyn will be watching plenty of Sixers games in a couple of years, as they are still owed an additional first-round pick from the Ben Simmons-for-James Harden trade. If the Sixers' 2027 first-round pick does not fall in the first eight selections, it will belong to the Nets.

Simmons is entering the final year of what has become an albatross of a contract. Many -- myself included -- were skeptical that Simmons could be the primary ball-handler for a championship team. Anybody who says they expected him to be on his way out of the league at 28 years old is lying. As difficult as it is to watch Simmons play these days -- and read about his long list of significant injuries -- it remains fun to watch highlights from when he was at his best. Simmons was a magician with unbelievable court vision and authored one of the best rookie seasons in NBA history.

Despite all of his flaws, Simmons a treat to watch as a young player. It is sad to see what injuries and stunted development have reduced him to. 

Follow Adam on Twitter: @SixersAdam

Follow PhillyVoice on Twitter: @thephillyvoice