Interesting post.
IMO Hornets at 7 is a tad optimistic.
But my greater disagreement is Toronto at 3 and Philly at 2. Toronto has a significantly better roster.
I have Toronto at 2 but just slightly. How does Toronto have a significantly better roster?
From a starting lineup perspective, I'm taking the Sixers. Their starting 5 had the best net rating in the league. Embiid will feast on Valanciunas and whoever the Raptors backup C will be. The Toronto bench should be better and deeper. In the playoffs when the rotations shorten, I might give the edge to the Sixers.
Toronto had 7 wins more than Philly last season, and they just got Leonard and D. Green for DeRozan. Don't you expect the gap to get even greater?
I believe Toronto is better than Philadelphia as well, however I don't think the gap is necessarily all that large as I fully expect the Sixers players to all improve and don't expect much improvement from the Raptors aside from a few bench players (like OG). In addition they have a first time new head coach. On the other hand, Simmons, Embiid, and Saric are all going to get better. If Fultz figures it out and starts at "PG" (which is a real possibility), he will also get a lot better. Covington should remain about the same and even if Redick regresses a bit he will still be able to shoot. If Covington is in fact moved to the bench, he would be the best bench player on either team. Chandler is easily a better addition than Green. The Sixers still have nice depth on their bench as well because along with Covington and Chandler they still have McConnell, Johnson, Korkmaz, and added Smith, Shamet, Bolden, and Muscala.
Toronto on the other hand has an entire starting lineup that has already reached it peak and guys like Lowry, Ibaka, and Green have already starting to regress. Valanciunas is what he is and then you have Leonard who is returning from injury. Assuming he is back to full health and engaged, he is obviously a big improvement over DeRozan, but this notion that the Raptors are significantly better than the Sixers seems strange to me. At least during the regular season when the old guys can't show up every night and veterans often lose interest. Now in the playoffs when you have the best player in the series and guys like Lowry can show up more consistently I'd favor the Raptors, though it wouldn't shock me if they lost to the Sixers.
EDIT: what tazz said.