UPDATE: LeBron says the Sixers will be his final team
I’m shaking as I write this, so bear with me. LeBron James is signing with the Philadelphia 76ers for 2/$8m, the second year being a player option and the first year being a minimum salary. This is all very important, so let’s get into it.
The Cap
No one wants to start at the money, but it is truly the best part of this deal. LeBron is entering his 24th season, but he is still a great basketball player. He’s not what he was, but his real value in terms of NBA players is probably somewhere in the $30m to $40m range. Not a max guy, but a key cog for a winner. The Sixers just got him for the league minimum of $3.9m. Imagine being able to add any veteran starter for almost nothing? He immediately becomes the best value in basketball. That is not hyperbole. Literally every first round pick taken in this year’s draft will have a bigger cap hit than the Sixers’ new starting power forward. That’s insane.
As for the cap itself, the Sixers have a hard cap of $209m this season, the 1st Apron. Coming into this deal they were sitting at 14 players and $205.1 in salary obligations. The minimum salary for a player who has played more than 10 years like Lebron is around $3.9m. However, there is a salary exception to encourage the signing of players of his age that means his minimum salary only counts as $2.3m against the cap. He fits with about $1.6m to spare just in case.
But wait, there’s more! Dalen Terry and Jabari Walker make up a combined $5.6m in salary this season but their deals are not guaranteed. They can be waived to open up spots for possible minimum contract vet signings. I’ll take a useful ring chaser if need be!
The Fit
After getting Jaylen Brown and Dean Wade, the Sixers were still very low on one thing: passing. It’s great having Brown, Tyrese Maxey, and Joel Embiid, but they needed someone to be the connector that gets them the ball. This doesn’t mean a point guard or lead ball handler, but someone who knows where the ball needs to be. That’s James to a tee.
The starting lineup is now:
- Center: Joel Embiid
- Power Forward: LeBron James
- Small Forward: Jaylen Brown
- Shooting Guard: VJ Edgecombe
- Point Guard: Tyrese Maxey
ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THAT!!! The Sixers are absolutely loaded in a way that not only raises the ceiling when they are all together but keeps the floor high when Embiid and James inevitably miss time due to injury. This team is capable on all levels with enough scoring, passing, shooting, and defense to hang with any team in the league.
This move also pushes new free agent signing Dean Wade to the bench. He will still have a significant role as a defensive stopper and primary substitute for James in the front court, but had never averaged more than 22 minutes per game previously. This is a role for which he is much better suited. It is possible he could also be used in small ball units with LeBron at center when Embiid inevitably misses time.
LeBron also pushes everyone on the bench down a notch and that’s a good thing. Wade, Anfernee Simons, and Labaron Philon Jr. are probably the first players off the bench now. All 3 have legitimate skill sets (defense, shooting, ball handling/scoring) rather than just the “guys” we are used to. That’s a legit 8 deep before getting to Dominick Barlow, Justin Edwards, and Adem Bona. Plus, now there is room to add other veterans on the cheap.
The Everything
Mike Gansey, you son of a bitch. First he makes the smart signing of getting Wade, then he trades for Jaylen Brown, and now he brings in his old Ohio high school buddy LeBron James. That’s an incredible first month on the job.
I was listening to the Zack Lowe Show yesterday and he had Grant Liffman on who is a former executive with the Hawks and a very smart NBA guy. When asked about LeBron, he mentioned the Sixers as the likely choice because and the reasoning struck me. LeBron is calculated with everything he does and more than likely knew what teams he wanted to be on when he left the Lakers. However, the Sixers could not have been one of those teams because it was pre-Jaylen Brown. The Sixers being in the mix meant that they had changed the calculus and given him something to seriously think about. He was right.
James choosing Philadelphia is not normal. Why? Because free agents do not choose the Sixers. There have been stars over the years, especially for the Eagles, Phillies, and even the Flyers, but all the Sixers stars came via trade and the draft. There was Paul George, but we were the only ones offering him real money. Before him it was Elton Brand coming off a serious injury. This really doesn’t happen. With LeBron, it is a situation where all things were equal and he picked Philadelphia over Miami, San Francisco, and his hometown Cleveland. I still can’t beleive it.
Contracts: Spotrac
Photo: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
Philly Front Office 
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