Last season, the Philadelphia 76ers were 24-24 entering February — a young team with promise, but nothing indicative of a playoff contender. The buyout market changed that, with Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova adding valuable firepower to the second unit.
The Sixers finished the season 52-30, including a 16-game win streak to secure the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons deserve credit for that run, but Belinelli and Ilyasova provided significant upgrades to the offense.
Now, the Sixers are 5-4 early in the 2018-19 campaign.