The Philadelphia 76ers, a team including several young players bound to be future superstars have been widely regarded as a team bustling with the potential to be great, but their not quite there yet.

At the beginning of the season, many people figured they would make some steady improvements from their 28 win season a year ago, and maybe make the playoffs as an 8 seed. But here we are, with the Sixers headed into the second round of the playoffs as a 3 seed, looking like the contenders many thought would take them several more years to become.

Led by Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, the Sixers have developed into a Eastern Conference threat, ending the season on a 16 game win streak and winning 52 games. Just 2 years ago, this was a pitiful team that won 10 games.  10.  But Joel Embiid knew they had it in them to be great, and the “Trust the Process” era began.

The Sixers’ management has slowly brought in the necessary pieces to turn a laughing stock of a team into one capable of a deep playoff run, mixing young talent like Markelle Fultz, Dario Saric, Embiid, and Simmons, with proven veterans like JJ Reddick and Marco Belinelli. They are now set to face the Boston Celtics in the second round, a 2 seed team that advanced past the first round without their two best players(Kyrie Irving, and Gordon Hayward), and is playing great team basketball with a variety of role players. Philly shouldn’t be phased by this, and I feel like with the talent they have right now, they’re more than capable of beating the Celtics, making the Conference Finals, and maybe even make the NBA Finals, something I think no one would have saw coming.

The “Process” is seemingly ahead of schedule, and it’s scary to imagine what this team will look like in a few years if they’re already at a skill level this high. The NBA title may go the Rockets this year, but as far as the Eastern Conference goes, Philly is the team to beat.