Adi Joseph

USA TODAY Sports

Yes, we're going there.

Obviously a lot of things have to go right to make this happen, starting with health across the board, but the Philadelphia 76ers have the pieces in place to be a playoff team next NBA season. The free agency additions of sharpshooter J.J. Redick and defensive ace Amir Johnson on Saturday will help groom a startlingly talented young core while also being the kinds of on-court presences missing from this roster.

Let's review that roster for a second:

PG: Markelle Fultz / Jerryd Bayless / T.J. McConnell

SG: J.J. Redick / Nik Stauskas / Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot

SF: Ben Simmons / Justin Anderson / Furkan Korkmaz

PF: Robert Covington / Dario Saric / Jonah Bolden

C: Joel Embiid / Amir Johnson / Richaun Holmes / Jahlil Okafor

First: Yes, that's probably a few extra players compared to what they will start the season holding. Second-rounder Bolden's no guarantee to make the roster this year, while the team probably should make a decision on Holmes vs. Okafor while they both still have some semblance of trade value. Bayless, the veteran they added last offseason who spent the whole year hurt, doesn't have a particularly clear role either.

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All that said, that's a really good roster - as the players will tell you. The point guard position is the weakest, unless Fultz exceeds expectations in Year One. But they're expecting Simmons to run the offense anyway, and reports out of Philadelphia have basically suggested the Australian is ready to roll into the Rookie of the Year Award at first tip next season; he's improved every facet of the game, and his injury history isn't nearly as scary as Embiid's.

Embiid is the wildcard here, of course. When he was on the court last season, he was not only the best rookie in the league by a mile, but also good enough to have the 76ers putting up a playoff-level points differential in his 786 minutes. If he stays healthy and plays about 70 games, this playoff thing shouldn't be a big issue.

Why? Because the Eastern Conference, for one. Trades of Jimmy Butler and Paul George open up two playoff spots, while everything is leaning toward Paul Millsap leaving the conference as well to open up a third.

The 76ers have set themselves up with deeper talent pools and much higher upside than the Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets, two teams that stumbled last season. The Miami Heat should be a playoff threat - especially if they pull in Gordon Hayward - but they needed career-best stretches from Dion Waiters and James Johnson to get to 41-41 last year.

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It's too much to ask one guy to fix a defense, but Johnson will have plenty of assistance because Embiid and Covington already are excellent on that end. It's too much to ask one guy to stretch the floor, but Redick should find help in Bayless, Stauskas, Covington and Embiid while Saric, Luwawu-Cabarrot and Fultz have shown potential.

What Johnson, Redick and possibly Bayless will be asked to do is provide leadership. They've all been in the NBA for a decade, and they've experienced winning and losing. They're the exact kind of guiding voices that Philadelphia lacked in previous years, something every NBA coach will tell you is important to have in the locker room. Both Johnson and Redick only signed for one year, but that year could make a big difference as this team sorts out its many options for the future.

None of this makes the 76ers perfect. Redick and Johnson are hardly game-changing talents. But Embiid looks like he is, and Fultz and Simmons might be. (The 76ers also still could have a No. 1 pick or another high pick in one or both of the next two drafts to get even more franchise-defining talent.)

Though it's Bryan Colangelo, not Sam Hinkie, making these movies, this isn't the end of the Process. It's the next step toward delivering a finished product.