The Philadelphia 76ers have had their fair share of early surprises this offseason, but one particular shocker that tops whatever they have encountered is LeBron James opting into his contract to skip free agency.
LeBron turned a lot of heads when he steered clear from the league-wide expectation that he would be entering free agency as a complete formality in order to sign another contract to stay in Los Angeles. That has been his modus in the market for quite some time now, which is perhaps the most sensible thing for his camp given his advanced age.
This bodes well for the Lakers financially as it allows them to be a player in the open market. However, the four-time NBA champion’s camp has started to signal that after all, James could very well seriously reconsider his stint with the franchise as his phenomenal career unerringly flirts with its end line.
And as history points out, the 76ers could actually be waiting at the end of the road for the superstar.
The 76ers could be an early favorite as a LeBron James trade destination
It is difficult not to equate James’ surprising decision as a kick start for an eventual trade request when the push comes to shove. We can flake every discernible tidbit out there that points to that vivid possibility, but the most definitive out of them all is the recent report that LeBron has been closely following the team’s moves in free agency and had already acknowledged the Lakers’ Luka Doncic-centric direction moving forward.
Where to the 76ers stand here? Well, at this early stage in the raw, if not forced, LeBron “sweepstakes”, Philadelphia could — and probably should — be viewed as one of the only feasible destinations for the superstar.
Back in 2018 before he opted to head to Los Angeles, James was widely believed to have considered going to Philadelphia. In fact, he himself revealed before that he seriously considered going to the 76ers to play with Joel Embiid and previously, Ben Simmons.
“I definitely thought long and hard about the possibilities of lining up alongside Ben [Simmons] and [Joel] Embiid or lining up aside [James] Harden and Chris [Paul].”
As can be gleaned from that brief, yet resounding bit, the 76ers were not the only team in play for the megastar back then, but at this juncture, Philly clearly stands out as a team that has the tools to pry him away from the Lakers and possibly serve as his final team before he calls it quits.
Naturally, it is way too early to even call this LeBron James saga as a resolute trade request under the guise of savvy niceties and the Philadelphia 76ers have more pressing concerns in mind, but if that solidifies as a trade call as people believe it to be, then expect the franchise to be on his head as a potential destination.