Philadelphia 76ers: What if LeBron James asks for a trade?

Could the Philadelphia 76ers be a destination for one of the best players in NBA history if he becomes unhappy with the franchise he currently plays for?

In the past, I wrote about how LeBron James should regret his decision in choosing the Los Angeles Lakers over the Philadelphia 76ers last summer in light over Magic Johnson stepping down from his role with the Lakers. The Lakers have blundered a prime opportunity to make James very happy and it should bring questions about his future.

After Sixers assistant Monty Williams had accepted the head coaching job with the Phoenix Suns, the Lakers had gone into contract negotiations with James’ former coach Tyronn Lue. Lue had a championship on his resume as James’s coach and won a title with the Lakers back when he was a player. Yet the Lakers low balled him on the length of the contract they offered him and tried to dictate who would be on his coaching staff.

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Those two stipulations from the Lakers ended contract negotiations between Lue and Los Angeles. The Lakers are still in search of a new head coach, but that shouldn’t be their biggest concern. Los Angeles didn’t hire a coach who James obviously preferred. This isn’t a positive move in building a strong relationship with James after the departure of Johnson.

To put it simply, the Lakers have failed James up to this point. They didn’t make the playoffs, they failed to get him legit help, the front office executive that recruited James to L.A. is now gone and when they could have hired a coach that has had a positive history with him, they failed to close the deal.

If James cares about the last few years of his basketball career, it should be clear that the Lakers aren’t the team for him. He doesn’t have a no-trade-clause in his contract and if winning a championship is his main priority, then he should consider making a request to be traded as Jalen Rose of ESPN has suggested James should do. That’s where the 76ers come in.

Besides the Lakers, the Sixers were the only team to get any type of significant interest from James during last year’s free agency. Philly is set to face the Toronto Raptors in a game seven in their second round matchup. The 76ers have a great young core of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, both of which were All-Stars this past season.

They also have some free agents in Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris who they can re-sign over the salary cap limit. Keeping J.J. Redick will be a high priority of the Sixers front office as well. Even if Philly loses game seven to the Raptors, they are still an attractive destination for any player. If James were to ask to be traded, it wouldn’t be crazy to believe that the Sixers would be at the top of his preferred destinations list.

If that were the case, trading for James wouldn’t be an easy task for general manager Elton Brand. The Lakers would ask for one of the Sixers young core players (such as Embiid or Simmons) and draft picks. One thing to remember is that James is still in the last stage of his career, so the price to acquire him wouldn’t break the 76ers bank. Below is an ideal trade on the 76ers end to get James.

Including Harris in this hypothetical deal would mean that the 76ers would have to do a sign-and-trade during free agency this summer. Harris has shown All-Star talent when he was the leader of the young Los Angeles Clippers. Zhaire Smith is a young prospect with high potential that the Lakers can develop with the rest of their young core. Due to James’ age and NBA mileage, only giving up one first and two second round picks is fair compensation with the aged superstar.

As stated before the hypothetical trade was proposed, this would be an ideal package for the Sixers and not the Lakers. However, with the inexperience and dysfunction of the Lakers front office, Brand might be able to pull off a similar trade. Brand should only trade for James if he can acquire him without having to deal Simmons or Embiid. The Sixers shouldn’t mortgage the future to get James in Philly.

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James has some decisions to make about his future with the Lakers. If he decides that he wants to get traded, then the Philadelphia 76ers could have an opportunity to acquire one of the All-Time greats in NBA history.