LeBron James has kept everyone guessing for more than two weeks now, and that silence has naturally pulled the Philadelphia 76ers into the conversation. If the Sixers are in the mix for him, then the fit question is unavoidable: how would LeBron actually look next to Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown and VJ Edgecombe?
That was the lane ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne stepped into during a recent appearance on Cleveland radio. She didn’t offer any fresh intel on where James is headed - the destination is still a mystery - but she did make a strong basketball-fit argument that leaned toward Miami and away from Philadelphia.
"Somebody talked me into Miami," Shelburne explained. "I go, 'Oh, yeah, I guess I could see that.'
From a basketball fit, the Heat is not a bad fit. Philly, I don't get that at all.
I think there's just too many guys there that... Yeah, I don't think the Embiid-LeBron thing would work well."
That’s the kind of take that invites a hard second look.
It’s one thing to say LeBron can plug into just about any lineup. He’s still one of the most adaptable players in the league, with the size, skill and basketball brain to make almost anything work. But if the discussion is strictly about fit, the Sixers case starts to look cleaner than the Heat case pretty quickly.
Think about the spacing problem. Miami’s version would feature Bam Adebayo, Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron and two of Davion Mitchell, Tim Hardaway Jr. or Andrew Wiggins.
Philadelphia’s version would be Embiid, LeBron, Brown, Edgecombe and Maxey. In today’s NBA, that second group looks far more natural.
The “too many guys” concern is real, of course. The super-team era has produced plenty of messy outcomes. But when those teams actually worked, LeBron James was usually the centerpiece making it all click.
The Heat did it. The Cavaliers did it. And if you want to count the 2019-2020 Lakers as a super team, that group belongs in the same conversation too.
If you don’t want to label those Lakers that way, the comparison still matters. James made it work alongside Anthony Davis and JaVale McGee as the starting bigs, and Davis and Embiid share a lot of the same traits: they’re elite scorers, stretch bigs, strong defenders and players whose injury histories are always part of the equation. James and Davis also won a title together, and there’s no reason to think LeBron would be anything but open to that kind of reunion-style setup again.
So no, the Sixers may not be the perfect landing spot for James. Every team in the chase has an argument. But if the debate is narrowed to pure basketball fit between Philadelphia and Miami, Shelburne’s initial read doesn’t hold up.
In Other News...
Another No. 1 Pick Just Reopened The Markelle Fultz Wound
The Hawks decision to move on from Zaccharie Risacher after just two seasons landed with a familiar thud for anyone around the 76ers. In a three-team deal, Atlanta shipped out the No. 1 pick from the 2024 draft and brought back Lu Dort and Ryan Nembhard, a reminder that even the top selection is no guarantee of a long runway if a team decides the fit is off.
For Philadelphia, the uncomfortable part is how quickly this kind of storyline snaps back to Markelle Fultz. Risacher becoming the first No. 1 overall pick traded after two years or fewer with the team that drafted him since Fultz keeps that old wound in view, even if the circumstances are different. It is the sort of comparison Sixers fans never asked for, but one that still hangs around every time a former top pick gets rerouted before the story has really had time to breathe. [Read more 🡒]
Sixers Fans Should Love What This Philon Snub Could Create
Labaron Philon Jr. gave the Sixers exactly the kind of Summer League showing that can get a fan base buzzing. The No. 22 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft put together a strong four-game run in Las Vegas, averaging 18.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.5 steals while looking every bit like a guard who wants the ball in his hands and the pressure that comes with it.
Still, the way the summer ended may have added a little edge to what comes next. Philon was left off Bleacher Reports All-NBA Summer League teams, and for a player described as competitive, that kind of omission can linger long after the tournament is over. The Sixers do not need a manufactured storyline here, but they may have one anyway if Philon turns a snub into fuel once his rookie season gets going. [Read more 🡒]
Former Sixer Sparks Debate By Giving Celtics Credit In Major Trade Talk
PJ Tucker has never been shy about his basketball opinions, and the former Sixer added another one to the mix while weighing in on the Celtics-76ers playoff series. In discussing Paul George and Jaylen Brown, Tucker suggested George may have had the better series, a take that naturally invites a fresh look at how Boston and Philadelphia have been debating the trade landscape ever since.
The numbers and context make it a tricky argument to settle cleanly. Brown came off a strong regular season that put him in All-NBA and All-Star territory, while Georges recent seasons have been clouded by availability concerns, including a 2025-2026 campaign in which he played only 37 games. Add in the way the series unfolded, with Jayson Tatum unexpectedly ruled out for Game 7 after the Celtics had said he would not miss time, and it is easy to see why Tuckers view has stirred conversation without closing the book on anything. [Read more 🡒]