After The Timeout · NBA 2026-27 guide

Eastern Conference · tip-off October 20

Philadelphia 76ers

Our win estimate next to the market's, the last three seasons, who came and went, and the rotation we expect.

Our estimate

40 wins

Median of 20,000 simulated seasons. Middle 80%: 34 to 45 wins.

The market

49.9 wins

Where the Kalshi yes price for "wins or more" crosses 50%.

Last season

45-37

2025-26 · net rating -0.2 (18th in the NBA)

Our estimate is 9.8 wins below the market.

Treat the gap as a flag, not a verdict. In backtests on 2024-25 and 2025-26 (60 team-seasons) this kind of estimate missed a team's win total by 8.3 wins on average. Last season's wins pulled toward 41 missed by 9.0. Ratings built from games alone said 40 wins for this team.

Two ways to count wins

Our range against the market

The blue bar is the middle 80% of our simulated seasons. The orange line is the market's win total.

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 49.9 market wins in an 82-game season
Our median 40, middle 80%: 34 to 45 Market 49.9

Where we think they finish in the East

Top 6: 14% Play-in, 7th to 10th: 71% Outside the top 10: 15%
Market prices by strikeKalshi, captured Oct 19, 4:38 pm UTC
Wins or moreBidAskMidOur odds
2097¢ 99¢ 98¢ 100%
2595¢ 100¢ 98¢ 100%
3096¢ 98¢ 97¢ 99%
3592¢ 94¢ 93¢ 88%
4082¢ 87¢ 85¢ 50%
4569¢ 71¢ 70¢ 13%
5049¢ 50¢ 50¢ 1%
5533¢ 34¢ 34¢ 0%
6011¢ 13¢ 12¢ 0%
653¢ 5¢ 4¢ 0%

A strike with no bid is treated as unpriced. The market win total is a straight line between the two strikes that straddle 50%.

What the scoreboard said

The last three regular seasons

Ratings are points per 100 possessions. Possessions are estimated from box scores, so treat them as close, not exact. Ranks are out of 30.

2025-26 · 45-37 (13th in wins)

Points per game
115.914th
Allowed per game
116.119th
Offensive rating
112.917th
Defensive rating
113.016th
Net rating
-0.218th

2024-25 · 24-58 (26th in wins)

Points per game
109.626th
Allowed per game
115.821st
Offensive rating
109.922nd
Defensive rating
116.126th
Net rating
-6.225th

2023-24 · 47-35 (12th in wins)

Points per game
114.615th
Allowed per game
111.59th
Offensive rating
114.714th
Defensive rating
111.611th
Net rating
+3.18th

Our preseason ratings

Offense
-0.1315th
Defense
+0.1517th
Net, games only
-0.2819th
Roster value
-0.08

Offense, defense and net are points per game against an average team, fitted on every completed game before tip-off (defense: lower is better). Roster value is the on-court net per 48 minutes of the players on the roster list, weighted by minutes.

Who came and who left

Offseason moves

Built from the DraftKings roster list and 2025-26 box scores. Players who left had at least 500 regular-season minutes here last season.

In (9)

  • Jaylen Brownfrom BOS
    34.4 min, 28.7 pts a game
  • LeBron Jamesfrom LAL
    33.1 min, 20.9 pts a game
  • Anfernee Simonsfrom CHI
    24.9 min, 14.3 pts a game
  • Dean Wadefrom CLE
    22.4 min, 5.8 pts a game
  • Kentavious Caldwell-Popefrom MEM
    21.3 min, 8.4 pts a game
4 moredepth and rookies
  • Rayan Rupertfrom MEM
    16.8 min, 5.2 pts a game
  • Caleb Lovefrom POR
    20.7 min, 10.4 pts a game
  • Ariel Hukportifrom NY
    9.5 min, 2.2 pts a game
  • Labaron Philon Jr.Rookie / newNo NBA box score on file

Out (6)

  • Quentin Grimesnow with LAL
    29.5 min, 13.4 pts a game
  • Kelly Oubre Jr.now with IND
    31.5 min, 14.1 pts a game
  • Andre Drummondnow with NY
    19.6 min, 6.4 pts a game
  • Paul Georgenow with BOS
    30.6 min, 17.3 pts a game
  • Trendon Watfordnow with NO
    16.3 min, 6.5 pts a game
1 more
  • Jared McCainnow with OKC
    16.8 min, 6.6 pts a game

The rotation we expect

Top eight by projected minutes

Minutes come from our DFS minutes projection and are not scaled to a 240-minute game. Open a player for three seasons of per-game lines and shooting.

VJ Edgecombe G · age 21 · 35.6 projected min 2025-26: 75 g, 16.0 pts, 5.6 reb, 4.2 ast

2025-26 · PHI

75games
35.0min
16.0pts
5.6reb
FG43.8%451/1030
3P35.4%149/421
FT81.8%148/181

4.2 assists a game

2024-25

No regular-season games on file.

2023-24

No regular-season games on file.

Jaylen Brown New here F · age 29 · 35.3 projected min 2025-26: 71 g, 28.7 pts, 6.9 reb, 5.1 ast

2025-26 · BOS

71games
34.4min
28.7pts
6.9reb
FG47.7%736/1543
3P34.7%140/404
FT79.5%426/536

5.1 assists a game

2024-25 · BOS

63games
34.3min
22.2pts
5.8reb
FG46.3%518/1118
3P32.4%116/358
FT76.4%246/322

4.5 assists a game

2023-24 · BOS

70games
33.5min
23.0pts
5.5reb
FG49.9%627/1256
3P35.4%145/410
FT70.3%211/300

3.6 assists a game

Tyrese Maxey G · age 25 · 35.3 projected min 2025-26: 70 g, 28.3 pts, 4.1 reb, 6.6 ast

2025-26 · PHI

70games
38.0min
28.3pts
4.1reb
FG46.2%694/1501
3P36.7%220/599
FT89.2%372/417

6.6 assists a game

2024-25 · PHI

52games
37.8min
26.3pts
3.3reb
FG43.7%477/1091
3P33.7%161/478
FT87.9%254/289

6.1 assists a game

2023-24 · PHI

70games
37.5min
25.9pts
3.7reb
FG45.0%638/1419
3P37.3%212/569
FT86.8%328/378

6.2 assists a game

Joel Embiid C · age 32 · 34.1 projected min 2025-26: 38 g, 26.9 pts, 7.7 reb, 3.9 ast

2025-26 · PHI

38games
31.5min
26.9pts
7.7reb
FG48.9%341/697
3P33.3%53/159
FT85.4%286/335

3.9 assists a game

2024-25 · PHI

19games
30.2min
23.8pts
8.2reb
FG44.4%140/315
3P29.9%23/77
FT88.2%149/169

4.5 assists a game

2023-24 · PHI

39games
33.6min
34.7pts
11.0reb
FG52.9%450/851
3P38.8%54/139
FT88.3%399/452

5.6 assists a game

Rayan Rupert New here G · age 22 · 32.6 projected min 2025-26: 64 g, 5.2 pts, 2.9 reb, 1.1 ast

2025-26 · MEM/POR

64games
16.8min
5.2pts
2.9reb
FG39.3%123/313
3P32.4%44/136
FT77.8%42/54

1.1 assists a game

2024-25 · POR

52games
8.8min
3.0pts
1.3reb
FG40.8%58/142
3P27.1%16/59
FT76.7%23/30

0.5 assists a game

2023-24 · POR

39games
16.3min
4.0pts
2.4reb
FG33.5%54/161
3P35.9%28/78
FT76.0%19/25

1.6 assists a game

LeBron James New here F · age 41 · 30.7 projected min 2025-26: 60 g, 20.9 pts, 6.1 reb, 7.2 ast

2025-26 · LAL

60games
33.1min
20.9pts
6.1reb
FG51.5%473/919
3P31.7%77/243
FT73.7%233/316

7.2 assists a game

2024-25 · LAL

70games
35.0min
24.4pts
7.8reb
FG51.3%651/1270
3P37.6%149/396
FT78.2%259/331

8.2 assists a game

2023-24 · LAL

71games
35.3min
25.7pts
7.3reb
FG54.0%685/1269
3P41.0%149/363
FT75.0%303/404

8.3 assists a game

Anfernee Simons New here G · age 27 · 26.3 projected min 2025-26: 55 g, 14.3 pts, 2.5 reb, 2.4 ast

2025-26 · BOS/CHI

55games
24.9min
14.3pts
2.5reb
FG44.0%285/648
3P38.5%146/379
FT89.6%69/77

2.4 assists a game

2024-25 · POR

70games
32.7min
19.3pts
2.7reb
FG42.6%479/1125
3P36.3%215/593
FT90.2%175/194

4.8 assists a game

2023-24 · POR

46games
34.4min
22.6pts
3.6reb
FG43.0%360/837
3P38.5%156/405
FT91.6%163/178

5.5 assists a game

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope New here G · age 33 · 22.6 projected min 2025-26: 51 g, 8.4 pts, 2.5 reb, 2.7 ast

2025-26 · MEM

51games
21.3min
8.4pts
2.5reb
FG41.0%150/366
3P31.6%55/174
FT91.2%73/80

2.7 assists a game

2024-25 · ORL

77games
29.6min
8.7pts
2.2reb
FG43.9%239/544
3P34.2%113/330
FT86.3%82/95

1.8 assists a game

2023-24 · DEN

76games
31.6min
10.1pts
2.4reb
FG46.0%270/587
3P40.6%125/308
FT89.4%101/113

2.4 assists a game

How to read this

Method and limits

How our estimate is built
  • Our estimate starts from the roster. Each player's on-court net points per 48 minutes (from his most recent full season, pulled toward zero when the sample is small) is averaged by minutes across the roster list, then turned into wins at about 2.9 wins per point of net.
  • That win total is then pushed through the real 2026-27 schedule 20,000 times, using a home win probability for every game, to get the range and the playoff and play-in odds.
  • Ratings built from games alone (6,153 games before October 20) are kept as a comparison. They fade old games over the offseason, which pulls every team toward average.
  • The market number is the wins where Kalshi's "wins or more" price crosses 50%, read off a straight line between strikes five wins apart.
What the estimate does not know
  • Possessions are an estimate from box totals, not tracked possessions.
  • The season simulation uses each game's win probability from the ratings and nothing else: no rating uncertainty, injuries, trades after the cutoff or in-season rating updates, so the 10th-90th percentile band is narrower than a real season's spread.
  • The 2026-27 schedule file lists 1200 games (80 per team on average) rather than 1230. Each team's missing games ([2] per team) are played against an average opponent at a neutral site with no rest terms.
  • Projection method: (d) roster values. In the walk-forward study its hold-out MAE was 8.3 wins (n = 60 team-seasons) against 9.0 for last season's wins regressed toward 41. Typical error is still about 8 wins per team, so treat every number as a wide estimate.
  • Roster values use each player's box-score plus-minus, which is not adjusted for teammates. Players with no box-score history count as average at 10 minutes a game.
  • Ties in the seeding are broken at random; head-to-head and division rules are not applied.
  • Every team has a usable market median.
  • Market median uses the midpoint of the yes bid and ask for each strike and a straight line between the two strikes (5 wins apart) that straddle 0.5; a strike with no bid is treated as unpriced.
  • Rosters are the DraftKings Best Ball player list for draft group 150564, kept only where the player is on his team's current ESPN roster (ESPN team rosters, 2026-10-19): released and departed players are out. Players DraftKings lists as Out are not in the engine's pool, so they have no projected minutes and are not in the top 8; each team's moves block names them.
  • Projected minutes are the engine's per-player estimates from box scores through 2026-04-12; they are not scaled to the team's 240 minutes and do not model new teammates.
  • Box scores start in 2021-22; a player with no box score on file is marked as a rookie or new, which can include veterans returning from abroad. Ages come from the ESPN player directory (2025-26 file) and are missing for players it does not list.
  • This team has 2 games the schedule file does not list yet; they are treated as games against an average opponent.

Data built Oct 19, 2026. Estimates are ours and can be wrong.