Last October, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse fielded a question about his team's third foray into the NBA's in-season tournament, now known as the NBA Cup. Nurse, a fan of many similar tournaments during his overseas career, is a major proponent of the NBA Cup. Being eliminated during Group Play in all three of its seasons has bothered him.

"I don't know what to say about the cup," Nurse said, "because we sure haven't played very well in it... I think it's a great competition, I think it adds to the regular season [some] spice, and it's good. I would like us to play better in it, so no time better than right now."

With the 2026-27 Sixers, Nurse will have a much better roster than he ever has had before in Philadelphia. But his team's pathway to the Knockout Rounds – a single-elimination, eight-team bracket to determine a tournament champion – has never been tougher.

Kicking off the week with 5 Sixers thoughts, detailing just how challenging it will be to emerge out of Group Play before previewing the Sixers' salary-cap situation next summer and touching on some other notes and news:

The best NBA Cup group of all time?

Eastern Conference Group B is absolutely murderous:

In order to reach the Knockout Rounds, the Sixers may have to be outright winners of a group with four other teams expecting to be championship contenders in the Eastern Conference. Last year's winners of the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs, have one game against the LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers and three against teams they will be massive favorites against.

Even in Eastern Conference Group C, the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks share a group with three teams likely to be on the outside looking in when it comes to this year's playoff picture. Eastern Conference Group A has two teams definitely set to be near the bottom of the conference, too.

And then there is Group B, stacked with stars and high-profile matchups across the board. Not only will the Sixers be trying to flex their muscles by winning the league's toughest group when they face the Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat and New York Knicks, but they will be trying to notch what could be critical regular-season wins.

Remember, all NBA Cup contests before the championship count as part of each team's 82-game slate. There are at least 10 teams expecting to be top-six seeds in the Eastern Conference. Five of them are in one NBA Cup group. Those games will be especially meaningful.

MORE: How should Nick Nurse stagger his stars?

Previewing the Sixers' 2027-28 cap sheet

The exacts of where the Sixers will stand relative to the aprons going into next summer will depend on the outcomes of four options:

Regardless of how these four decisions pan out, the Sixers can pretty confidently estimate they will enter the 2027 offseason set to exceed the first apron, but have more than enough breathing room to remain below the second apron.

That means the non-taxpayer's mid-level exception – which the Sixers used to sign two high-level reserves in Dean Wade and Anfernee Simons this summer – will be out of the picture, barring a surprising trade that cuts significant costs. Instead, they will be able to utilize the taxpayer's mid-level exception, currently projected to be worth up to two years and $13.1 million, with a maximum starting salary just under $6.4 million.

Perhaps the Sixers' hope should be that Simons plays well enough to decline his player option and Labaron Philon Jr. shows enough promise as a rookie to inherit Simons' role in 2027-28. That would give the Sixers significant flexibility under the second apron to fill out the remainder of their roster.

If Simons opts in – or re-signs for up to $7.2 million – the Sixers would have a hard time retaining Dominick Barlow, should he continue to ascend in his fifth NBA season, without either dumping a salary elsewhere or going into the second apron. James can decline his player option and re-sign for about $4.65 million, unless the Sixers use the tax mid-level to give him a larger raise. That would prevent them from making any external free-agency additions at a price point higher than the veteran's minimum, though.

Caleb Love and Rayan Rupert's rotation chances

After reporting in last week's 5 Sixers thoughts that the Sixers are unlikely to fill their vacant two-way contract opening until training camp is at least underway, it is worth thinking about how the Sixers' offseason fireworks impact the two players already on two-way deals.

When the Sixers signed Caleb Love to a two-way contract in July, he had a strong case as the best player on the open market amenable to signing a two-way pact. He is imperfect, but viable at both guard positions with monstrous three-point volume and the ability to swing a game. Even after the Sixers had drafted Philon and signed Simons, there seemed to be somewhat of a path for Love to play.

Then James signed with the Sixers, giving the team a new point guard of sorts. And the NBA's all-time leading scorer brought veteran Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to Philadelphia with him, bolstering the Sixers' depth at shooting guard. Now Love finds himself behind all of James, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Simons and Philon within the hierarchy of ball-handlers, and also behind Edgecombe, Simons, Caldwell-Pope and even Jaylen Brown in bigger lineups when it comes to the shooting guard position (as much as such a thing still exists).

The stock of Rupert, meanwhile, took a hit with the Caldwell-Pope signing in particular, as the Sixers added another player they should trust to handle priority defensive assignments on the perimeter. Any world in which Rupert pops in a meaningful way for this team likely includes a standout role on defense. It is not going to be easy for him to outplay Caldwell-Pope and Justin Edwards on that end of the floor to such a degree that, as a considerably less reliable offensive player, Nurse feels more comfortable going with Rupert.

MORE: An expert breaks down Simons, Love and Rupert, on and off the court

Doc Rivers enters the Basketball Hall of Fame

Doc Rivers, whose three-year stint as Sixers head coach preceded the team's hire of Nurse, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last week.

Rivers' time in Philadelphia is not remembered all that fondly. Because the team did not achieve significant playoff success, that is fair and understandable. But Rivers' tenure with the Sixers was far from rudderless.

First of all, it was Rivers overseeing Joel Embiid's rise from superstar to unstoppable NBA MVP – an ascent Rivers helped engineer by regularly utilizing Embiid at the nail rather than on the block.

But because all three of his Sixers teams suffered rather upsetting playoff exits – and each one was accompanied by quotes from Rivers that fans did not appreciate – he will probably be remembered for those failures and his refusal to invest minutes in younger players more than anything else around these parts.

Trendon Watford joins the New Orleans Pelicans

Watford took to social media earlier this summer to dispel a rumor that he was nearing a deal to play overseas for Valencia Basket. Weeks later, news broke that Watford had landed a minimum deal with New Orleans, finally giving the Pelicans an external addition this summer.

According to SalarySwish, Watford's deal only has $250,000 guaranteed. That figure increases to $500,000 if Watford makes the Pelicans' opening night roster, with the rest of the money becoming guaranteed on Dec. 30, about two weeks earlier than the standard guarantee date around the league.

Watford had some impressive flashes with the Sixers – most notably a 20-point triple-double in his first start with the Sixers – but never did enough to prove himself as a true rotation-caliber forward. His lack of shooting may be forgivable and his lack of defensive utility may be forgivable, but those weaknesses were challenging for the Sixers to withstand simultaneously. 

MORE: Full 2026-27 Sixers schedule, with details, analysis and games of note