Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid gave the Philadelphia 76ers everything they had through the playoffs, but the season didn't end according to plan as they fell 114-112 to the Boston Celtics in thrilling Game 5.
Despite their exit, there's still plenty of optimism among the Sixers group that they've got next.
"Me & Ben we have a lot of room to grow," Embiid said post-game.
"Looking at what we did, we got a bright future. Like at the end of the game he [Simmons] came up to me, showed me his hands, and he was like 'there's going to be a lot of rings.'"
Sixers' Joel Embiid: "Me & Ben have a lot of room to grow. Looking at KD and Westbrook, what they did the first season together, I think they won 28 games... We have a bright future. [Simmons] came up to me, showed me his hands, and said there's going to be a lot of rings." pic.twitter.com/d25qN254Ru
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) May 10, 2018
While there's plenty of positives to take from a 52-win season, which saw them finish with the third seed, Simmons expressed a sense of unfinished business.
"The feeling right now is I didn't want to be done. I feel like I had a lot more to go," the Aussie said post-game.
"I'm just learning, this is just the start for me, I have a long way to go. So second series and I'm learning, there's a lot of things I learned this series that I didn't against Miami os that makes me a better player, so I'm grateful for those opportunities.
The core group of Simmons (21 years old), Embiid (24), Dario Saric (24) and Markelle Fultz (19) have time on their side as they look to build on their impressive start and there's no doubt that this is just the beginning.