LeBron Is A Philadelphia 76er. Now What?
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25 days. 25 days of waiting for a 42-year-old man to make a decision. Now, after an entire World Cup tournament, a Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce wedding, and the president reversing a red card in soccer, LeBron James is a Philadelphia 76er.
During ‘LeBron Watch’, we’ve seen teams such as Golden State, Cleveland, and even Minnesota be seen as the spot for LeBron’s final years as the option; Philly, however, came in somewhat late into the game. Out of all the teams in the race for LeBron, Philadelphia seems to be the best shot for LeBron to leave basketball with ring number five.
And for Philadelphia, with the addition of LeBron, they are staring at their best chance since the Jimmy Butler days to hold a Larry O’ Brien in Center City.
LeBron Himself
The most interesting aspect of LeBron’s signing was the statement he put out when the news came out. In the statement released with his signing with Philly, James spoke on following the Lakers’ loss to OKC in the second round; for the first time publicly, he admitted he contemplated retiring from the game of basketball. That feels like the most important piece to LeBron choosing Philadelphia.
With him admitting that retirement was a serious factor, LeBron sees Philadelphia as his best chance to get his fifth NBA title. On paper, it makes complete sense in his rationale for that. In this past season with LA, LeBron showed the ability to give up the scoring he was used to and instead gave Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic the bulk of the scoring responsibility and fit what they were doing. In that role change, LeBron put on display that even with his pedigree, he is willing to sacrifice for a chance to win.
Around players like Maxey, Brown, and Joel Embiid, LeBron can slide in as the true facilitator, giving easier scoring opportunities for players like Maxey and Brown. Along with that, his passing can balance out a starting lineup where a lot of players will want the ball. Over his career, LeBron has time and time again shown an ability to elevate anyone that plays next to him, and Philly will be no different.
So You’re Telling Me There’s A Chance?
Mike Gansey and the 76ers front office are definitely looking at Larry O’Brien like Neymar was looking at the World Cup trophy in 2018.
For the first time since before Kawhi Leonard shot, Philly has had their best chance to win a title. After a Darryl Morey regime defined by big moves that left Philly in the same situation when he started his tenure: good but not good enough. After moves for James Harden and the nail in the coffin of the two-punch of the Joel Embiid extension and the max Paul George contract, Morey was gone.
While a lot of Eastern Conference teams made moves this offseason to rival the defending champion New York Knicks, no other team outside of the prior Eastern Conference champion Indiana Pacers has a better shot of winning the East.
The biggest concern with this version of Philadelphia right now is the continuity. Players like LeBron, Brown, and other new additions like Anfernee Simons and Dean Wade are great on paper, but how will all of these new pieces fit? Jaylen Brown, for example, is coming off a season
where he showed that a team can win with him as the number one option, now going to a Philadelphia team where he is the number two behind Maxey. The thing that helps this team, however, is the version of LeBron they’re getting.
Like earlier, LeBron showed last season his ability to take a backseat to other star players, and his willingness to do that will help Philadelphia early on with figuring out where everybody fits. The other elephant in the room is Joel Embiid, who, even with his inevitable time missed with injury, will have to figure out a team where he is likely the third option on most nights.
Outside of the starting lineup, LeBron signing means giving Philly even better bench depth with the moving of Dean Wade to the bench. Now Philadelphia has a balanced bench with defense, with Wade along with scoring from players like Anfernee Simons. During the Knicks series, it became clear that Philadelphia stood no chance with a dominant New York team with no true reliable bench player stepping up. Now, after a season where their biggest flaw was their second unit, they have one of the more complete teams in basketball.
Can They Actually Win It?
Like most Joel Embiid teams, the question if they can win it all will be decided by injury luck. For years, Philadelphia has proven to win in the regular season, but a combination of disappointing performances along with Joel Embiid missing time has led to many playoff losses.
However, for this Philly team, they finally have enough players around Maxey and Embiid to eliminate the constant worry of Embiid missing time. LeBron and Jaylen Brown have shown many times to be guys who can be relied upon to score the ball and will give Maxey needed support.
This team feels like not only Philadelphia’s best chance at a title but LeBron’s as well.
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