After being eliminated in five games by the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night, Dwyane Wade refused to address his future but was more than willing to discuss the future of the NBA.

Speaking in his post-game press conference, the veteran was full of praise for the Sixers and believes they have the talent to dominate the league for years to come.

"You want to see nothing but good things for those guys," Wade said after his Miami Heat were beaten 104-91 in game five, per USA Today.

"This is the future of the NBA. The NBA is in great hands with Ben (Simmons) and Joel (Embiid) and those kind of individuals."

The young Philadelphia stars truly came of age in their first ever playoff series and blew Miami away to send a strong message to the rest of the Eastern Conference.

Earlier in the week, Embiid stated that "their time is now" and it's hard to argue on the evidence of their impressive first-round win.

They became the first team in the east to advance to the second round and will now await the winner of the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks as their series has reached six games.

After a vintage Wade performance in game two stunned the 76ers on their home floor to even things up with Miami at 1-1 last week, Philly bounced back in style and won three on the bounce to advance.

The three-time champion said he's "fine" with losing to a team like the Sixers as he admits they deserved to go through.

"You can lose with effort," Wade said. "You can lose to a better team. And that's what they were. And that's what they are. It was no secret about that."

Drafting exceptional young talents like Simmons and Embiid has given the 76ers a foundation to build on for the next decade and they have the biggest potential to take over the league.

"Sometimes, an organisation, they get lucky and they get to draft someone special," Wade said. "These guys got to draft more than one person special. And you're able to build around that. That's what these guys have the ability to do.

" ... I believe in them guys. I believe that they're going to be special for a while, but also, if they believe that they can do it now, they can."

Having now made it to the second round, the sky is the limit for this youthful Philly team. It may still be early in their development to talk about them as championship contenders but one thing's for sure, they'll be a tough nut to crack.

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