Due apparently to a failure to recognize the need for content during slow periods of the calendar year, the NBA revealed groups for the 2026 NBA Cup during the opening night of free agency. The Philadelphia 76ers will not have an easy path to Las Vegas, to put it lightly.
Eastern Conference Group B will consist of your Sixers, the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, and Indiana Pacers. As a reminder, every three teams from the prior
year’s standings are randomly assigned to one of the three groups (i.e. teams that finished 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, etc.). It’s a good attempt at parity across the groups, but obviously, future success is not entirely correlated to past performance. The Sixers appear to have drawn a short straw in that respect.
The Pacers finished 14th in the East last season, but it was a one-year tank coinciding with Tyrese Haliburton’s Achilles injury; they figure to be much better this year. Miami was 10th in the East and figure to be improved following the offseason acquisition of Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Cavaliers were 4th in the East with a six-game gap between them and the Raptors and Hawks in fifth and sixth. New York was third in the East but clearly figured out some things in the postseason on their way to the franchise’s first championship this century. The Knicks also won last year’s NBA Cup and may have repeating on their minds. From the Sixers’ perspective, you probably would prefer every other team from each group of three teams than what they actually ended up with in Group B.
Big picture, this doesn’t actually matter for the Sixers’ season. They were going to play these teams as part of their schedule anyway, and we’ve seen in past seasons that failing to advance out of the group can actually give you one easier game while other teams are taking part in the knockout stage. However, if you were hoping this was the season Philadelphia finally makes a run for the Cup, it will be about as hard a path as possible.
