Do the Sixers have enough balls?

Plus: the Blazers try to neg their way into an arena deal.

Good morning. It's Friday. Let's basketball.

There's a lot being made about the Philadelphia 76ers, already with two high-usage offensive stars on the roster, adding two more this summer. Belief that Philadelphia is an overwhelming favorite in the Eastern Conference seems non-existent, and as many analysts (at least at this early stage) seem to be pegging them for a 4-5-6 finish as a 1-2-3 result in the conference seedings.

That all may be fair, and I'm eager to see how the defense looks and what the plan is for Joel Embiid's roll-out. But I do think concerns about offensive roles might be overblown. We have some good examples of teams adding high-usage stars and maintaining offensive excellence. The nature of these teams makes comparisons imperfect, but here are the examples that make the most sense to me.