LeBron James heading to Philly in deal with 76ers
The Sixers' wild offseason continued Friday when they added four-time NBA champion LeBron James.
LeBron James is coming to Philadelphia. The four-time NBA champion and the league's all-time leading scorer announced Friday he's joining the Sixers for the 2026-27 season, which will be his 24th as a pro.
"I'm not going for money. I'm not going for family," James wrote on X. "What am I really playing for at this point? I still want to sacrifice. I still want to work. I still want to grind. I still want to compete, to win and to have a chance at the feeling of winning another championship."
The Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves were reportedly mentioned as other suitors for James, but the Philadelphia 76ers won the sweepstakes.
ESPN reports that James is signing an $8 million, two-year contract with a player option.
It's been 43 years since the Sixers last won the NBA Finals, and 25 years since the team got past the second round of the playoffs.
The addition of James means one thing: the team and its president of basketball operations, Mike Gansey, are going all in on a championship in what could be the last season of The King's storied career.
James said on Friday, "I believe I can help make the Philadelphia 76ers a championship team and I am so excited to energize a new fan base and start this incredible journey one last time."
James, who will turn 42 in December, will slide perfectly into the power forward spot in the Sixers' starting lineup with Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown and Joel Embiid to form the most feared lineup in the league.
Even though James is the oldest active player in the NBA, he's still playing at an incredibly high level.
James made his 22nd All-Star Game last season and averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds in 60 games.
James gives the Sixers the size and rebounding they needed at power forward in their starting lineup. He also provides some secondary ball-handling to get Maxey off the ball, which should allow head coach Nick Nurse to get creative with the team's rotation.
Surely there will be nights where James puts up 30 points and fills up the box score, but the Sixers should have enough firepower in Maxey, Embiid, Brown and Edgecombe to allow him to play in a secondary role.
Of course, Embiid's health will remain a big question heading into the 2026-27 season. He's only played in 96 regular-season games over the last three seasons.
Embiid returned from an emergency appendectomy in the first round and had the best playoff performance of his career to help the Sixers rally to a historic series win over the Boston Celtics. But he missed a game in
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