NBA Rumors: LeBron James To Philadelphia 76ers Possible In Free Agency, Analyst Says
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers were given a boost on Tuesday night with the season debut of Isaiah Thomas. The Cavs put a halt to their three-game losing slide with a 127-110 rout of the Portland Trail Blazers at the Quicken Loans Arena with Thomas scoring 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting in only 19 minutes of play.
Thomas’ presence was indeed a welcome event for James and his troops as they concentrate on making another NBA Finals run against the defending champions Golden State Warriors.
Despite James repeatedly telling reporters that he is focused on this season and that he does not want to comment anything about his upcoming free agency plans until the summer, the rumor mill is still swirling with possible landing spots for the three-time NBA champion.
James, who just turned 33 last Saturday, has recently been linked to a number of clubs, namely the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, and New Orleans Pelicans. Each of the reporters mentioning James with the said teams have all given their opinions on how the four-time NBA MVP would fit well with each of those squads’ existing high-profile stars.
However, the latest rumor that came up has suggested James to make an unlikely move to an underdog franchise.
In a HoopsHype Podcast interview with Alex Kennedy, Basketball Insiders’ Michael Scotto said that the Philadelphia 76ers would be a “dark-horse free-agent destination” for LeBron.
“What I think would be the ultimate incredible move that would blow people away…” Scotto began before raising a couple of questions: “What if LeBron went to the Philadelphia 76ers? How fun would that be?”
Kennedy fueled Scotto’s idea by saying that going to the Sixers would let James “stay in the Eastern Conference” and that he will just do “what he did with Cleveland, where he leaves Miami for (a) Cleveland team that is younger to (kind of) reset his championship window a little bit.”
Like the Lakers, the Sixers are also a young team teeming with a lot of potential future All-Stars, foremost of whom are the duo of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
Embiid and Simmons are both in their early twenties, and adding LeBron to their mix would be “so intriguing,” Scotto said.
Kennedy noted that “it has to be tempting” for James because of Embiid and Simmons’ huge upsides. The tandem has barely scratched their full potentials and is still on their way to their primes.
