This past offseason, LeBron James signed with the Philadelphia 76ers ahead of his 24th National Basketball Association (NBA) season — a league record. With James turning 42 on December 30 this year, it can’t help but feel like the end of his career is near. Of course, critics and fans have said this about LeBron for the last decade, but by signing only a two-year deal, this time the end feels legit. It’s a sad reality for many of his supporters and an immense relief for others.
The new contract James signed is worth just $8 million over two years, the league’s veteran minimum. However, James is well above the minimum in terms of talent, production and success. His name alone generates the 76ers far greater than $8 million, not to mention his actual contributions to winning. Tom Brady took this same approach: Take a massive pay cut to help the team and prioritize winning.
The 76ers built a team this offseason that should help LeBron have his Cinderella ending. Philadelphia already had major contracts signed with former NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Joel Embiid and All-NBA guard Tyrese Maxey. The 76ers also found an up-and-coming star in VJ Edgecombe of last year’s NBA Draft. Finally, the 76ers traded for former Celtic Jaylen Brown, who was an NBA Finals MVP. The team certainly has the star power to succeed, but if I had to choose a team to win the NBA Finals within the next two years, it would not be the 76ers.
With their new roster, the 76ers went 1-3 in preseason. While generally the preseason isn’t a great tell of how good a team will be, the 76ers played the Celtics in their fourth game of the preseason and lost 125-120 with their stars all on the court; meanwhile, the Celtics only played with bench players and two-way contracted players — players who are contracted to play mainly in the G League, the NBA’s ‘minor leagues’, and only occasionally in the NBA. It was a terrible showing for this new roster. Of course, it takes time to gel with new teammates, so it is reasonable to have early-season setbacks.
The preseason woes aren’t what makes me think the 76ers are not a dream team; it’s the state of the rest of the league. Each team has so much star power, and other teams have more depth. For example, the Celtics: They have stars in Jayson Tatum and Paul George, but they also have a strong core of effective role players in Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and Mike Conley. There are numerous teams just like the Celtics. The Thunder, Nuggets, Spurs, Knicks and Cavaliers all have the same roster makeup. This structure of stars and role players has been the blueprint for success in the NBA for the past several years.
It is exciting to see all of the stars coming together in Philadelphia, but I wouldn’t expect a championship to come out of it. The 76ers are still contenders, but by no means favorites. Last year they won 45 games and made it to the Eastern Conference Semifinals before getting swept 0-4 by the eventual NBA Finals Champions, the New York Knicks. But this new top-heavy roster doesn’t strike me as the type of team to make it over the hump. Normally we would be able to look past all of the signs pointing to failure because of LeBron James, but approaching 42 years old, he isn’t the same player anymore. LeBron will still be able to help his team win and be efficient himself — he is the greatest basketball player of all time. But with many stars on this roster who want the ball in their hands and not enough role players, the 76ers are most definitely not my pick to be the 2027 or 2028 NBA Champs.
