The Philadelphia 76ers’ offseason already looked loud on paper. Then they added LeBron James, and suddenly every move around this team feels a little bigger.
Philadelphia first pulled off a deal for Jaylen Brown, who was unhappy in Boston. Then came the James signing, a move ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported this way: “LeBron James is signing with the Philadelphia 76ers for his final run at another NBA championship, he announced Friday," ESPN's Dave McMenamin wrote. "James, 41, is signing a two-year, $8 million contract with a player option, Klutch Sports Group CEO Rich Paul told ESPN's Shams Charania."
James, though, is making a major life adjustment with this move. His family remains on the West Coast, so he won’t be seeing them as often, and he has been open about how hard that has been.
“Every day is getting better, and obviously I'm gonna have some days where some days will be better than others. But when I get to the facility, around these guys, it definitely helps," James said.
The 76ers open the season in New York on Tuesday night, and that backdrop made ESPN’s Brian Windhorst’s latest comments land even harder. Windhorst said James once wanted to be drafted by the New York Knicks.
“There was this dream, and in fact, it was kind of LeBron‘s dream too. Literally the night before he agreed to his Nike contract, in his Nike contract he got a 20 or 30% bonus if he got drafted to the Knicks.
They agreed to that the night before the Lottery. That’s why it was so important to get it done before the lottery.
And when the envelope opened and showed the Knicks at number nine, there was an audible in the room because people wanted LeBron to go to the Knicks,” Windhorst said.
That never happened. James went to his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers instead, and the rest turned into a career that worked out just fine. If the Knicks had won that lottery slot, Windhorst suggested they would have done everything they could to keep him there for the long haul.
The timing adds another layer, with New York on deck and Windhorst talking about James’ old preferred landing spot on Monday. James has already said he planned to join the Knicks this summer if they didn’t win the NBA championship, which makes that New York connection feel even less surprising now.
In Other News...
76ers Already Have A Joel Embiid Problem They Couldnt Hide
The season opener offered a reminder that the 76ers biggest question may not be about their stars, but about what happens when Joel Embiid has to take a breather. Against the Knicks, Philadelphia looked exposed behind him as Adem Bona and Jabari Walker had a tough time dealing with Andre Drummond, a matchup that quickly turned into a problem the Sixers could not paper over for long. Injuries already have thinned the center group, and the team had to get creative just to survive stretches without its anchor in the paint.
Philadelphias depth chart at the position now feels like something worth watching closely, especially if the early-season rotation has to lean on stopgap answers more than expected. The Sixers can live with a lot when Embiid is on the floor, but the opener showed how quickly the matchup can tilt once he is not, and it left an obvious question hanging over the roster: whether this team will need to find more reliable help at center before those minutes decide a game again. [Read more 🡒]
Nick Nurse Still Has A Knicks Grudge The 76ers Havent Settled
The 76ers have already made their presence felt against New York once this season, walking out of Madison Square Garden with a 106-100 win that spoiled the Knicks ring and banner ceremony. For Philadelphia, it was more than just an early-season road victory. It was the kind of result that still carries some extra edge for a team that has spent time looking back at what happened against the Knicks in the playoffs.
Nick Nurse has not completely let go of that loss in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and the frustration around it still lingers as the two teams measure themselves again. Philadelphia has also reworked its roster with Jaylen Brown and LeBron James in the mix, giving the club more ways to navigate the season if Joel Embiid misses time. Even so, the Knicks remain a familiar source of unfinished business for a coach who clearly has not moved on from the last postseason meeting. [Read more 🡒]
Paul George Just Reopened An Uncomfortable 76ers Debate
Paul Georges first night in Boston looked a lot like the kind of performance the 76ers spent a season hoping to see more often. In the Celtics season opener, George poured in 38 points and added five rebounds, three assists and five steals, immediately looking like a player with more room to operate than he ever consistently found in Philadelphia. The fit was different from the start, with Boston putting him in a larger role and giving him the freedom to play like a primary option alongside Jayson Tatum.
For the 76ers, it reopened an uncomfortable question about what exactly went wrong during Georges time in Philadelphia. Injuries were part of the answer, but so were the team dynamics around him, which never seemed to let his game breathe in the way it did against his new backdrop. If this is the beginning of a resurgence, it only sharpens the sense that the Sixers may have watched a different version of George emerge just as he moved on. [Read more 🡒]