Sixers Place High in 2020 NBA Offseason Rankings

Last offseason, the Philadelphia 76ers made some highly questionable moves. In an attempt to bolster the team's defensive power, the Sixers went out and signed former Boston Celtics big man Al Horford to an expensive multi-year deal.

Then, they allowed JJ Redick, their best three-point shooter by far, to walk in free agency solely because of his defensive struggles. And to top all of those moves off, the 76ers found themselves falling out of favor with the All-Star Jimmy Butler, which practically forced the front office to sign and trade him to Miami for Josh Richardson.

As we know, the Sixers' 2019-2020 roster didn't get very far. A year after clinching the third-seed in the Eastern Conference, Philly fell to the sixth seed. When they faced the third-seeded Boston Celtics in the first round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs, the 76ers failed to pick up a single win, which led to the firing of head coach Brett Brown and the revamp of the highly-scrutinized front office.

Doc Rivers is Brown's replacement -- while Daryl Morey is controlling the personnel. That right there is already a sign the 76ers had a solid offseason. As expected, Morey came in and immediately started purging last year's personnel moves by trading both Al Horford and Josh Richardson.

Mix in those two deals with a solid draft on paper, and CBS Sports believes the 76ers had one of the best offseasons in the entire NBA. CBS Sports' NBA writer James Herbert assessed the entire league by looking at each teams' offseason moves and ranking them. Per Herbet's analysis, the Sixers had the second-best offseason.

"It's unclear that Philadelphia got the best player in either of its two major trades, and yet it appears much improved as a team. New general manager Daryl Morey quickly simplified things for the new coach and the returning All-Stars, and might have set the Sixers up to be among the elite on both ends. He also gave his front office much more financial flexibility in the coming years.

Philly picked up a solid backup center at the right price, too, and it might have found a steal with the No. 21 pick: a 19-year-old guard who defends like crazy and, in time, could be a dynamic offensive player on and off the ball."

Getting Horford's contract off the books was an A-plus move on its own. Receiving a solid 3-and-D veteran such as Danny Green was just icing on the cake. As far as the Richardson trade goes, the Sixers likely didn't get the better player in return.

But that's okay because Richardson didn't tailor to the Sixers' needs. Meanwhile, Seth Curry is a perfect fit as he's knocked down nearly 45-percent of his three-point attempts throughout his career.

And finally, the draft. Did the Sixers have a good draft? It seems so as they picked up Tyrese Maxey, who fell to pick No. 21 and also snagged an excellent shooter in Isaiah Joe along with an intriguing power forward in Paul Reed.

Like always, the draft is a gamble. On paper, it seems the Sixers made some solid choices, so they can't be taken away from them right now. Therefore, Philly can head into training camp on Sunday, knowing they've built themselves a solid team this year.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_

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