LeBron James is a Philadelphia 76er. That will take some time to get used to.
The NBA’s all-time leading scorer made his highly anticipated decision on Friday when he chose to sign with the 76ers on a two-year, $8 million contract that includes a player option on the second season. James’s free-agency decision marked the end of a long process that spanned three-plus weeks which felt like a year.
On June 30, he decided to return for a 24th NBA season, but he informed the Lakers that he planned to play elsewhere after an eight-season run in Los Angeles which included a championship in 2020. What followed was a never-ending cycle of rumors on where James would presumably close his historic career.
Would he return to Cleveland for a third stint with his hometown Cavaliers and finish where it all started? A second stint with the Heat sounded nice after Miami traded for Giannis Antetokounmpo, pairing the superstar forward with Bam Adebayo. The Warriors were a top suitor, too, as James could’ve teamed up with Steph Curry and Draymond Green while staying in the same state.
In the end, Philly emerged above the rest after the Sixers acquired Jaylen Brown from the Celtics to pair him with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe. Dean Wade, Anfernee Simons and Ariel Hukporti were brought in as free agents to round out the roster and now the 76ers add one of the best to ever do it to add even more juice to a team that has quickly emerged into a legitimate title contender.
Mannix: LeBron James Chose the 76ers for One Simple Reason
A decision as big as James’s comes with significant ripple effects across the league. With No. 23 now in Philly, here are the biggest winners and losers from his monumental signing:
Winner: All-in trades
LeBron’s decision comes nearly three weeks after Brown arrived in Philly following a career season in Boston. Brown was fourth in the NBA in scoring last season with 28.7 points per game. He joins another top-five scorer in Maxey, while Embiid averaged 26.9 points a night in 38 games last season. The addition of James makes four 20-point scorers on the same roster, plus plenty of other talent around the core four.
Embiid and even James’s health is a concern and there are only so many shots to go around, but you can’t deny the extreme amount of talent the Sixers will have on the floor on a nightly basis. If the Brown trade didn’t happen, LeBron likely doesn’t land in Philly. At this stage of James’s career, his decision wasn’t about money; it was about happiness and competing for another NBA title. He clearly saw the Sixers as the best shot to get another ring after they added a borderline MVP candidate to an already talented roster.
Philly sent Paul George, two-first round picks and two second-round picks to the Celtics to get the Brown trade done. That’s a favorable price for the Sixers, but the fact that the franchise went star hunting proves it’s valuable to strike instead of sitting on your hands. In this case, in more ways than one. James is an outlier, but his decision to go to a franchise that he had no prior ties to proves to other teams that there’s a need to take big swings to subsequently attract premier free agents.
Loser: Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers
Not only did the Heat and the Cavaliers miss out on the James sweepstakes, but an Eastern Conference rival got better in the process. Miami just added a two-time MVP and one of the most dominant players in the league and will still have its own say in the East. However, the Heat gave up a haul of young players and picks for Giannis and the franchise could’ve used James’s services at a cheap price to add much needed depth.
The Cavs made a run to the Eastern Conference finals last season and will be back in the mix once again with Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and, presumably, James Harden. Harden declined his player option for next season to become a free agent and remains unsigned, although he’ll likely return to Cleveland. The Cavs lost Dean Wade over the offseason, coincidentally to the 76ers. His departure left a hole at the forward spot which James would’ve filled nicely. He had a real basketball fit with Cleveland aside from the strong narrative of returning home for one last go.
Without James, the Heat and the Cavs remain toward the top of the East. However, Philly’s beefed up roster brings yet another strong team to get through in a loaded conference.
Winner: The process
Is this what former 76ers guard Tony Wroten meant by trust the process?
Philadelphia’s famous rebuild happened long ago. No matter how far gone the dreary days of the process Sixers are, as long as Embiid is on the team, the process remains. Although the Sixers have made the playoffs in eight of the past nine seasons, they have yet to get past the second round. Embiid says his longstanding knee issues are behind him, but he hasn’t played 40 games in three straight seasons. Adding Brown and James to the core gives the Sixers enough talent to stay afloat even if Embiid is forced to miss time.
As long as the star big man is available, though, the next step for Philly is to get over the hump and bring the franchise its first title since 1983. With two new stars and an improved supporting cast, the team has its best shot to get to the conference finals and beyond. If the additions result in a championship, the process will be fully complete.
Loser: Steph Curry
Poor Steph. Like James, Curry is in the twilight of his career. Golden State needs to maximize the little time that it has left with the franchise’s longtime superstar and adding James would’ve been a big step in that effort. The Warriors missed the playoffs for the second time in the last three seasons last year and the roster needed a serious boost to compete with the Spurs and the Thunder in the Western Conference.
Golden State missed out on Antetokounmpo and now it misses out on James. Jimmy Butler will miss at least most of next season as he recovers from a torn ACL and Curry just doesn’t have enough help to take the Warriors where the team wants to go. Green opted out of his player option for next season to give the franchise flexibility to chase significant roster upgrades. Retaining Kristaps Porziņģis and Al Horford, plus drafting Yaxel Lendeborg just isn’t enough to move the needle, though. Now, Green remains a free agent and the most likely outcome is his return, but he could go elsewhere if he so chooses.
Curry is 38 years old and will be a free agent after next season. Stars become disgruntled in the NBA all the time and the Warriors could still add a big fish later on, but if it’s another disappointing season, Curry could follow in James’s path and find a new home next summer.
Winner: A 25th season, maybe?
James’s contract with the 76ers is for two years and $8 million with a player option on the second year. That gives him the opportunity to do it all again a year from now. He could decline the player option and call it quits, work out a new contract with the Sixers or go elsewhere. He could pick up the option to play a second season in Philly at $4 million on the current deal, too.
While explaining his decision on his X account Friday, James mentioned that this is his last decision. It’s not for money, it’s to have a shot at another championship. Should he go for a 25th year, he’ll likely just pick up his option with the Sixers to come back for one more season at the same price. It’s unclear what needs to happen for LeBron to play two more seasons. He likely doesn’t even know that yet. If Philly falls short next year, maybe he comes back for one more run at the title. If he feels like he has something left to give, he could return no matter the team’s result. Age presented itself more than ever for James last year when he missed the first month of the season as he dealt with sciatica and he missed time with foot soreness/arthritis later in the year. Still, he was highly impactful in his time on the floor and he even led the Lakers to a win over the Rockets in the first round.
James has already played the most seasons of any NBA player, so what’s one more for the ageless wonder?
Loser: Prescheduled live streams
Apologies to the Miami Heat who were already mentioned as a loser of the James sweepstakes for basketball purposes. Now that the decision is in the rearview, though, I’d be remiss not to mention the Heat’s YouTube blunder. The team prescheduled a live stream for a LeBron introductory press conference on its YouTube channel. Keen eyes quickly noticed the stream and assumed it was a leak of James’s pending decision, but it turned out that it was only a mistake.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the team’s social media department was preparing for the possibility of James signing with Miami and mistakenly published the link to the team’s YouTube page, which was later deleted. Mistakes happen, but the timing was rough as LeBron made his decision to head to an Eastern Conference foe mere days later. I bet the Heat sure wish they had a use for that press conference link right now.
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