LeBron James is slowly closing in on his much-awaited free agency decision, yet the Philadelphia 76ers appear to be taking a rather strange, if not utterly bizarre, strategy to convince the megastar and his camp to pick the franchise as his next and potentially final landing spot. According to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, the front office is not even talking to him at the moment, and it is solely the players who are doing the active recruitment right now.
76ers better hope players are making a strong pitch
That is definitely a tad too unconventional of an approach to such a prized bidding war. One would expect any NBA brain trust to adopt a much more proactive stance if what awaits them at the end of the tunnel is someone like LeBron James. Heck, this reported tactic could even end up derailing their chances at the 22-time All-Star.
James had just stated that his decision is coming up sooner rather than later, and if nothing changes on Philly's front, it could be seen by LeBron's camp as a half-baked effort to bring him to the franchise. After all, the lack of organizational pull from up top might be perceived as a non-committal approach, especially when compared to their rival teams on this front in Cleveland, Miami, and even Golden State.
The 76ers front office has taken a rather strange approach to LeBron
Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Jaylen Brown are reportedly the ones leading the recruitment pitch for LeBron on the 76ers' end, with Maxey taking the front seat as a fellow Klutch Sports client. McMenamin pointed out that the players are the ones talking to LeBron directly and filtering what they are hearing before relaying it back to the front office.
The optics of that dynamic are not as ideal as the 76ers' brain trust might think. The Cavaliers, Heat, and the Warriors –– teams reckoned to still be in the running for James –– have all adopted a persistent approach to the bidding war while being led by their respective front offices. That Philly is content letting their players do all the work for them is a relatively feeble approach given that LeBron is the person of interest in the ongoing sweepstakes.
The 76ers already face some inherent deficits in this race, such as their lack of actual history with LeBron. As such, they cannot afford to show any semblance of detachment from the chase from an organizational viewpoint. The players can only do so much, and with such an informal approach, the team could end up letting the megastar slip through their hands.
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