Following an offseason where they completely revamped their roster, the Philadelphia 76ers find themselves back in the NBA’s contender conversation. Before the new-look squad has even played a game, one former All-Star thinks they could take down a recent champion in a hypothetical matchup.

During a recent episode of his Gil’s Arena podcast, Gilbert Arenas and his panel discussed the future of the Denver Nuggets. After losing multiple key pieces since winning the finals in 2023, the question was posed if their title window is still open.

Arenas stated that the Nuggets might still be a top team in the West, but multiple teams in the East have drastically improved. He then went on to say that he feels the Sixers could take down Nikola Jokic and company in a hypothetical matchup.

“If they did play Philly in the finals, we know Jokic gonna have a triple-double, but we also know Embiid will probably average about 40,” Arenas said. “Denver is not gonna win that series with Embiid averaging 40, and now you have Paul George and Maxey and the whole rest of that team.”

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Following their offseason moves, the Sixers have enough firepower to go toe-to-toe with any contender in the NBA. As Arenas mentioned, Embiid is still one of the most dominant forces in the game. Moving forward, he’ll now be flanked by not one but two All-Star-level players in Paul George and Tyrese Maxey. Not to mention a strong supporting cast led by players like Caleb Maritn and Kelly Oubre.

Preaching about finals matchups might be a bit premature with the Sixers seeing as their trio hasn’t even stepped on the court together yet. That said, they certainly have the talent and potential to have this kind of success in the near future.