For the first time in over a decade, the Sixers are actually starting to matter in the city of Philadelphia and have the people excited for whats to come for this team. Last week provided the final confirmation that the Sixers have experienced a rebirth in the interest in Philadelphia. Fans showed up at the Philadelphia International Airport for Dario Saric, who hasn’t seen a minute of playing time and been playing overseas for the past few years. Plus, when you get a national debate over if Ben Simmons should be playing in the Sixers final summer league game is further proof.

Ben Simmons is the biggest reason and at the forefront of this excitement. Even though he has not shown so far to be a scorer, his passing skills alone are worth the excitement. What I saw out of him in the Las Vegas Summer League was confidence and he kept his cool but that is something you wouldn’t expect from a 19-year-old taken as the top pick in the draft. If he feels any pressure, Simmons is pretty good at hiding it on the court and while talking to the media.

What surprised me even more was when during their interviews, Jerryd Bayless and Gerald Henderson, both mentioned that Simmons as one of the reasons why they chose to come to Philadelphia. To have two veteran players both talk about Simmons and one of the reasons why they wanted to come to Philadelphia is huge. The last time I remember a player wanting to come play for the Sixers was probably when Allen Iverson was on the team.

How coach Brett Brown will blend all of this raw talent on the roster has also become a point of excitement since he finally has young true talent on the roster. The Sixers are most certainly a mystery right now as we speak. They are still years away from the NBA Finals but this team is going to be exciting to watch with all this young upcoming talent.