LeBron James is set to walk into Philadelphia with the kind of spotlight that usually comes with a whole franchise, not just one new arrival. After agreeing earlier this summer to a two-year, $8 million deal with the 76ers, he joins a projected starting five that also includes Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe.
On paper, that group is loaded. The five players averaged a combined 120.8 points per game last season, which is exactly why Philadelphia is being viewed as a serious problem in the Eastern Conference before the season even starts. Kevin Durant, speaking with Boardroom, said James’ arrival will force constant adjustments in how the team functions.
“That’s going to be a juggernaut… it’s going to be nights you going to be the man. It’s going to be nights where you got to be the second guy, but it’s going to be moving parts throughout the whole season.
Everybody’s role is going to change. And I think LeBron understands that.”
Durant knows James well from years of NBA Finals battles in the 2010s. James’ Heat beat a young Oklahoma City Thunder team in 2012, and Durant’s Warriors got the better of the Cavaliers in 2017 and 2018.
Now both stars are still among the league’s elite in 2026. James finished last season at 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists over 60 games, while Durant posted 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.8 assists across 78 games.
For James, Philadelphia would be his fourth playing stop, and the expectations are obvious: bring home a championship and raise a banner for the city. The 76ers’ matchups with Houston on November 28 and December 23 will give this new-look group an early measuring stick, and maybe another chapter in the Durant-James rivalry.
Houston enters those games with plenty of confidence of its own. The Rockets are coming off a second straight 50-plus-win regular season, and even after a first-round exit to the Lakers that was shaped by injuries, the outlook is still strong. Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson continue to develop, Fred VanVleet is back, and the Rockets will open October with a clean slate.
Still, as Durant’s Brooklyn Nets stint showed, a roster that looks perfect on paper does not always click in real time. That makes Philadelphia’s early tests against Houston especially telling.
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