10 Lingering Thoughts Around LeBron James’s 76ers Decision One Week Later

It has been exactly one week since LeBron James announced his decision to join the 76ers in free agency. It was a stunning conclusion to a saga that left the NBA world on the edge of its seat for over three weeks. Given the future Hall of Famer’s strong ties to the Heat, Cavaliers and Warriors superstar Steph Curry, it never seemed like Philadelphia was really in the running. And yet, it was Philly who won the James sweepstakes. It’s an incredibly fascinating decision that sets up this Sixers team as the most interesting in the league, as well as a final act fraught with pitfalls for The King.

Sports Illustrated’s NBA team covered all the big and small ripple effects of James’s move over these last seven days. Now that the dust has settled and we’ve all started to get used to the idea of LeBron wearing Sixers black, here are 10 lingering thoughts about his final decision—from which “option” he’ll be in the offense to which current 76er will benefit the most from his presence.

“Point LeBron” is going to reach a new level

LeBron Jame — LeBron’s passing will be his most important skill in Philadelphia. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Initially, one of the more confusing aspects of James’s decision to join this 76ers roster was the number of mouths to feed. It felt fair to conclude he wasn’t a big fan of playing third fiddle to Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves—but then he goes and signs with a Philly team boasting three players who need the ball in their hands to succeed? It seemed contradictory. Why would James concede to Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown when he didn’t seem to enjoy doing so for a fellow top-tier superstar? It’s less confusing, though, when you think about LeBron as a true point guard on this team.

The concept of “Point LeBron” should reach a new level the likes of which we haven’t seen yet. Maxey is a good passer and Brown a capable one but both own skillsets better suited to that of a finisher than an initiator. Same with Joel Embiid. All three are capable of bringing the ball up and making something happen but they are at their best when they only have to worry about finishing scoring opportunities rather than creating them outright.

Enter James, who will run the offense in the grand scheme. His ability to manipulate the defense and find angles to attack is unmatched in the NBA and this year he should be leveraging that for the benefit of his teammates more than ever.

James won’t be a top scoring option in a 76ers uniform. But he should have the ball in his hands more than anybody else, so at that point, what’s the difference?

Legacy was an under-appreciated factor in his decision

James was emphatic in his explanation about heading to Philadelphia that his choice was about winning and winning only. But that isn’t 100% accurate. He wanted to win—in a way that enhances the legend of LeBron as much as possible.

If all he wanted to do was add another ring to the collection no matter what, James could have headed to the Thunder or Spurs. He did not. He didn’t want to take the easiest possible path. He also didn’t want to join his former nemeses in Golden State, which would have undeniably tarnished the battles between the two sides last decade. Rich Paul even openly stated the Knicks would’ve been James’s top choice ... until they won this year’s title.

There’s no doubting The King wants to win another championship but how he wins was just as important. Philadelphia has the talent to compete and winning a title with this franchise would be more impressive than any of the other options. Maybe not more impressive than the Timberwolves but their path was tougher than the Sixers’ as a West team.

That whole concept clearly went under-discussed when trying to anticipate where James would land. He didn’t want to put an exclamation mark on his legacy—he wanted to enhance it as much as possible. That’s what the Philly choice reflects.

It turns out he really was over Jaylen Brown’s Bronny comment

The reporting in the wake of LeBron’s decision has collectively suggested the 76ers’ acquisition of Brown played a significant role. Adding Brown, on paper, gave Philly an undeniable talent advantage over most of the conference, as well as an established playoff performer who knows what it takes to win a title. Signing up to play alongside him suggests James agrees—and was being honest when he indicated Brown’s past Bronny comments were now water under the bridge.

The star guard was once captured at Summer League expressing his opinion that LeBron’s son wasn’t an NBA-caliber player, something his dad drily referenced with a cheeky grin after a Celtics-Lakers game this past season.

Most importantly, James said he and Brown were good despite that.

LeBron on his relationship with Jaylen Brown:

“Our relationship has been pretty respectful. Besides the sh*t he said about Bronny in Summer League. But other than that we’ve been all right.”

(via @CelticsCLNS, h/t @ClutchPoints)

pic.twitter.com/kXrdPGZzxh
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) February 23, 2026

Tyrese Maxey touchdown passes are going to be a recurring highlight

Back during his second Cavaliers stint, there were few cooler LeBron highlights than when he’d catch “touchdown passes” from Kevin Love. The former star big man was uniquely talented at throwing baseline-to-baseline passes after misses and made buckets alike. He’d find James with such passes on a nightly basis, taking full advantage of LeBron’s legendary athleticism.

In Philadelphia, James will be throwing the passes. And his target should be Maxey. The 25-year-old is perhaps the fastest player in the NBA, an absolute lightning bolt in the open floor. But last season he was burdened with primary ballhandling duties and thus usually had to wait a beat before streaking up the court in order to get the ball from one of his teammates.

Now, he should be encouraged to take off immediately. As the lead ballhandler James should be lingering more often in the backcourt and his excellent court vision means he’ll see the opportunity to find Maxey before the defense realizes it.

We should see plenty of transition buckets featuring those two. Right in the bread basket, LeBron!

Will anyone benefit more than Adem Bona?

Seriously! Embiid is good to miss at least 20 games next season, and that’s conservative. Bona should be his primary backup after a strong showing as a rim-running, rim-protecting center with switchability against Boston in the playoffs. Playing next to LeBron has proven a fruitful exercises for numerous big men, from Anthony Davis to Anderson Varejão. The game is just so much easier for a center crashing the paint when his pick-and-roll partner is an all-time great passer and demands all the defense’s attention at all times. And in Bona’s case he will be (by far) the least-threatening player on the floor for the vast majority of his minutes, so the lane should be constantly empty for him.

The 23-year-old should get more easy buckets than he’s ever seen in his life with one of the NBA’s greatest passers as his new teammate. And his minutes should be plentiful with Embiid’s constant availability issues. Nobody’s stock will get a bigger boost than Bona’s.

How good can the defense be, and how good does it have to be?

There’s no doubt that Philly is going to have a sick offense with James now in the fold. His ability to lead the offense slots everybody else into their areas of strength, as mentioned above, and The King can still put up solid numbers in the points column. The skill and talent of his teammates should overcome most concerns about spacing and a lack of elite spot-up shooting that is the lifeblood of a modern NBA offense.

But the defense ... is a concern. With a fully healthy starting five the Sixers will trot out only two “good” defenders. Even that assumes VJ Edgecombe continues to rise on that end and Brown gives more effort than he showed last year. Maxey is fine but at a size disadvantage, while Embiid and James are bad defenders at this point. Once upon a time that wasn’t true for either star, but it is now.

Thus, expectations shouldn’t be that Philadelphia will boast a top-five defense. Or even top-10. But could this roster put forth a top-15 effort? Would that be enough? The Nuggets got it done as the No. 15-ranked defense by defensive rating a few years ago. Before them you have to go back to the 2017–18 Warriors to find a champion who finished with a defensive rating outside the top-10 and they are, obviously, a special case.

Nick Nurse is a talented coach who should be able to scheme up creative ways to stifle opponents, and the basketball IQ will be strong on that end. But it won’t be easy, and history doesn’t lie about contenders requiring a good-at-worst defense to win a title.

The 76ers could have four All-Stars

There have been two teams this century who have earned four All-Star selections in one season: the ‘15 Hawks and the ‘18 Warriors. The 76ers could very well join them this year.

Maxey and James are automatic All-Stars. Maxey, because it feels like his scoring will be least-impacted by James’s arrival, and LeBron, because he is LeBron. Brown feels close to automatic but isn’t quite there with the possibility looming his counting stats drop significantly. If he stays above 20 points per game, though, he should earn a spot. Embiid is obviously the biggest question mark; if the former MVP plays at the level he did last year and appears in at least 30 games before the All-Star game, there’s a chance. But that’s a lot of ifs.

Regardless of the outcome, it’s remarkable to consider Philly might be that well-represented at the ASG given where this team was 40 days ago.

Pros and cons for V.J. Edgecombe

V.J. Edgecombe and LeBron Jame — Edgecombe will be important for the 76ers next season. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

When last season ended, Edgecombe was seen as the 76ers’ greatest hope for the future after a stellar rookie season gave the impression he could become a co-star to Tyrese Maxey in the backcourt. In fact, that was the best and only way Philadelphia would stay competitive as it lingered in the purgatory of the Joel Embiid and Paul George contracts; ensuring Edgecombe reached his potential was arguably the top priority in the near future for Philly. That has obviously changed with the roster overhaul. Edgecombe will now be asked to do exactly what he did last season as a perimeter defender and shooter, but must do so at a higher level given the starting five’s weaknesses in those arenas.

Which makes this summer of moves both good and bad for the 21-year-old Baylor product.

In the pros column, Edgecombe is going to get thrown into the deep end and he’s already proven capable of swimming. He’ll take on one of the toughest assignments defensively every night. On the other end he will get more open shots than he did last year with all the threats surrounding him, particularly in crunch time; experience in those situations can only help. And in the broad sense he now gets to learn from an all-time great in LeBron and a perennial All-NBA wing in Brown.

But in the cons column, opportunities to expand his game will be limited. Edgecombe will be the No. 5 offensive option on the floor when Embiid plays. He won’t be tasked with any real ballhandling responsibility beyond the occasional dribble-drive on spot-ups beyond the arc. For the 76ers to succeed, everyone will need to buy into their role and Edgecombe’s role is to be the lowest-usage member of the starting lineup. Which will make it hard for the sophomore to learn his limits and how to surpass them.

Cavaliers really are the biggest losers

It’s certainly debatable whether the Cavaliers or Warriors are left in a worse position after missing out on James. But it just feels really bad for Cleveland, man. The franchise’s all-time great player and hero to millions opted against coming home … to go to the 76ers. A chief rival contender in the East and a city that doesn’t exactly boast a weather advantage, unlike Miami and Los Angeles. And it really did feel like his addition would be the only thing the team could do to avoid last year’s fate. They are bringing back mostly the same team that made an ECF run but they were clearly outclassed by the Knicks.

After a month of dreaming about the storybook ending that would be LeBron ending his amazing career in the place he grew up, the Cavs got Mario Hezonja instead. Woof.

Can LeBron avoid a sad, Tom Brady-like end?

This is just one man’s opinion, but I can’t shake the feeling that this LeBron decision could wind up like Tom Brady’s.

When Brady unretired ahead of the 2022 NFL season, it didn’t really feel right. His initial retirement wasn’t perfect, coming after a playoff loss, but it was fitting; he conquered all there was to conquer, including a Super Bowl win outside of New England. Coming back for one last ride didn’t seem like the right thing for the GOAT to do, and those vibes lingered over the season. Brady spent the year yelling at his offensive linemen and getting slammed to the ground by 300-pound defensive linemen 20 years his junior. He went out sad in the end, getting dominated in the wild card round of that year’s postseason.

It sort of feels the same with James. His sweep at the hands of the Thunder wouldn’t have been an ideal way for an all-time great player to end his career, but the way he carried the Lakers to the second round was a remarkable effort from the 41-year-old that made it clear no player would ever reach his level at that age. Everyone would have understood if he hung up his sneakers after that last Herculean effort. Instead, he’s donning a new uniform, again, across the country with a team that has quite a bit to figure out before being able to punch with the heavyweights. As spectacular as this Philly stint could be if things break right, it could also flame out in a truly epic manner.

There’s no doubt that James still has the ability to play at a high level. Just as there was no doubting Brady. But when it’s time, it’s time. Brady went a year past the mark. Is James doing the same?

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