LeBron James To Sign With Sixers

“I thought I was done when the season ended,” James wrote in his own post on social media explaining his decision (Twitter thread). “I wasn’t ready to announce it, and I knew I needed some time to really decide, but I was pretty sure I played my last game. I was honest at that last press conference when I said I needed to look at myself and decide if I still love this game.

“I still truly love this game, and I have more to give. The last few weeks have really been special. I’ve never been able to have no clue what to do and take real time to just think. I’ve had an incredible few months with all the people I love trying to figure it all out.

“This is my last decision. I’m not going for money. I’m not going for family. 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.

“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. Thank you L.A. Miami I’ll forever love and Northeast Ohio will always (be) home!”

James’ next team had been one of the biggest questions looming over the NBA offseason ever since word broke on June 30 that he’d informed the Lakers he would be signing elsewhere after spending the past eight seasons in Los Angeles.

James didn’t have a specific destination lined up at that point and spent the next three-plus weeks mulling his options. While nearly every team in the league made a pitch, reports in the first week of free agency indicated that Lebron and Paul had narrowed the list of realistic landing spots to the Heat, Cavaliers, Warriors, Timberwolves, Nuggets, and 76ers.

When Paul broke down James’ options on a white board in an episode of his “Game Over” podcast three weeks ago, he noted that LeBron “loves” Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey (another Klutch client) and pointed to the presence of new president of basketball operations Mike Gansey as a point in Philadelphia’s favor. James and Gansey have known one another since they competed against each other as high school players in Ohio, and Gansey was in Cleveland’s front office during LeBron’s second stint with the Cavaliers.

Still, even as Charania repeatedly reported in recent weeks that James seemed to be focusing more on the Eastern Conference suitors, there was always a widespread belief that a reunion with one of his former teams was more likely than a deal with Philadelphia. The Cavaliers were considered the frontrunners early in the process, with the Heat recently overtaking them as the betting favorites.

Instead, James will be teaming up with Maxey on a revamped, star-studded Sixers roster that also includes former MVP Joel Embiid, Rookie of the Year finalist VJ Edgecombe, and another notable newcomer, All-NBA second-teamer Jaylen Brown. Philadelphia’s early-July trade sending Paul George and draft assets to Boston in exchange for Brown almost certainly was a factor in LeBron’s decision, making the Sixers a more viable and appealing option.

Because the 76ers used nearly their entire mid-level exception to sign forward Dean Wade and guard Anfernee Simons and most of their bi-annual exception to add center Ariel Hukporti, James will be playing on the veteran’s minimum for the first time in his record-setting 24th NBA season. He’ll earn $3,876,529 in 2026/27, while his player option for ’27/28 will be worth $4,070,355.

While James, who will turn 42 in December, is no longer the dominant two-way force that he was during his prime years, he continues to produce at an All-Star level. In 60 regular season games last season, he averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, and 6.1 rebounds in 33.2 minutes per contest, making 51.5% of his shots from the floor. In other words, Philadelphia should get an excellent return on its minimum-salary investment.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN observes (via Twitter), the Sixers are just $3.4MM below their first-apron hard cap, so in order to officially sign James, they’ll need to trade or waive a player to generate some extra breathing room.

As we outlined earlier today in our list of non-guaranteed contracts, Philadelphia is carrying three players without fully guaranteed salaries. Duke Miles‘ Exhibit 10 contract doesn’t count against the cap, and Jabari Walker has a partial guarantee on his deal, so Dalen Terry may end up being the odd man out.

Signing James and waiving Terry would give the Sixers 14 players on standard contracts and would leave them about $2.1MM below their hard cap. In that scenario, they could carry a 14-man standard roster into opening night and would have room to add a 15th man during the regular season.

A few other free agency situations had been on hold as teams waited for James’ decision, so it won’t be a surprise if today’s announcement creates a ripple effect and leads to a series of transactions around the NBA in the coming days.

For instance, James Harden is now free to re-sign with the Cavaliers without having to factor in the cap implications of James coming aboard, and the same is true of Draymond Green with the Warriors. Meanwhile, DeMar DeRozan, Jonathan Kuminga, and Mario Hezonja are among the free agent forwards who are expected to receive serious consideration from some of the teams that missed out on LeBron.