Hardwood Knocks

So much is going on with the Philadelphia 76ers, we jump-start their 2017-18 season preview in the only way that makes a semblance of sense: by posing roughly six bajillion-zillion-quadtrillion questions. First and foremost: Are they a playoff team after signing J.J. Redick to a one-year deal—Amir Johnson, too—and adding Markelle Fultz to a healthy Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid? Hell, is Embiid even healthy? How many games should we expect to see him play in this year? And to this point, what do the Sixers do with his extension situation? Should they pursue a deal now, when so much about his health is still up in the air? Do they just let negotiations ride out into restricted free agency next summer? Will a renegotiate-and-extend get done with Robert Covington, as everyone initially assumed, or do the Sixers prefer leveraging his micro cap hold next summer into oodles of spending power? And speaking of RoCo, is Dario Saric really a threat to start at the 3 over him? (Spoiler: He's not.) Assuming everyone's heal