By Jason Ma ‘28, Sports Desk Editor
Over the offseason, the Philadelphia 76ers made waves in the NBA by completely reshaping their roster, primarily by signing LeBron James, a four-time NBA champion and the league’s all-time leading scorer.
In addition to James, Mike Gansey, the Sixers’ President of Basketball Operations, traded Paul George, two 1st-round picks and two 2nd-round picks for All-Star, two-time All-NBA Second Team selection and NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown from the rival Boston Celtics.
“My initial reaction was definitely excitement, because it’s basically a new team,” Luke Kolecki ‘28 said. “It looks like we’re going to do a lot better this year, possibly win an NBA championship.”
James, entering his 24th NBA season at 41 years old, signed a two-year, $8 million contract according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, a massive pay cut compared to his previous deal with the Los Angeles Lakers.
“He doesn’t really need money anymore,” Logan Shelton ‘28 said. “He’s going for a championship.”
That extra cap space helped the Sixers sign many new additions to the team, including two-time NBA champion and veteran guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope from the Memphis Grizzlies, forward Dean Wade from the Cleveland Cavaliers, guard Anfernee Simons who played for both the Celtics and the Chicago Bulls last season and Labaron Philon Jr., a rookie guard drafted 22nd overall from the University of Alabama, adding depth to Philadelphia’s bench and taking some pressure off the starters.
“Our bench is really going to help us out this year,” Kolecki said. “Anfernee Simons and KCP are both going to be shooters, and that’s really going to support Brown and [Tyrese] Maxey.”
With James, Brown, and Maxey all being very high-scoring, on-ball players who create offense, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse will have to address the challenge of distributing the ball.
“LeBron’s not gonna be able to do any isolation scoring. He’s gonna have to be a smart veteran who passes most of the time,” Kolecki said. “The floor space is going to be a difficult challenge to figure out.”
During the regular season, a big factor in the Sixers’ record will still rely on Joel Embiid, who was the NBA MVP in 2023. For years prior, his health has been a problem in his availability, playing only 96 games in the last three seasons, whereas another franchise player would normally play just under 200 games in the same timeframe.
“We need his size at center, but the addition of LeBron helps, because he could honestly play center too,” Kolecki said. “We also have other [centers] off the bench, but [Embiid] will be more useful in a playoff game.”
Philadelphia will play 13 back-to-backs this season, tied for the fewest in the NBA, down from 16 last season. They also play three games in four nights eleven times, which is the fewest of any team in the league. Because of their schedule, the Sixers will have more time to rest and stay healthy.
With the Sixers tied for the most nationally televised games at 34 games, many people around the country and in GA are waiting to watch James work for a championship as regular season games begin in October.
“We’ve been in a championship drought, and I think it’d mean a lot for the players and be a very joyous moment for the entire city to win a championship,” Shelton said.
Sources:
Shams Charania announcement: https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania/c89639ef979dd