With the Philadelphia 76ers officially getting a verbal commitment from LeBron James, the team has landed the biggest free agent on the market and will pay him at a historically discounted rate. As expected, the Sixers are thrilled to add the former Los Angeles Lakers forward to the mix, but not everybody wins in this scenario.
Every big change tends to affect players in different ways. And you can bet there are some losers in the LeBron acquisition. As the 41-year-old gears up to make his Sixers training camp debut in late September, understand who might benefit--or get placed in a tough spot.
Let's start with the bad news
Although LeBron is signing for significantly less than what he made last season, the Sixers will have to move a player to make room for the star forward. And with LeBron's influence playing a part in another expected move for Philadelphia, a second player will have to be cut at some point.
We don't know for sure who is getting the boot, but it's hard to imagine that Dalen Terry and Jabari Walker come out as anything but losers in this situation. Neither player has guaranteed money until mid-January. The cleanest path to make room is to waive them.
Dominick Barlow is another name that could be forgotten by the end of the 2026-2027 NBA season due to LeBron's presence. After the Sixers converted Barlow to a standard deal last year, they picked up his $3.4 million team option. Playing a steady backup role was initially in the cards. Not so much now. The Sixers invested nearly $40 million in Dean Wade to play power forward. He's going to be the primary 'Bron backup.
I keep going back and forth on Jaylen Brown and his role. In a perfect world, Brown is thrilled and willing to take any seat in the ride as long as it leads to high-level winning and a championship, but the rumors about his desire for an increased role after last season have to be at least a bit nerve-wracking for the Sixers. Too many cooks in the kitchen is a real concern in the NBA more often than not. We have a good idea of how Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey might react to LeBron taking up usage, but Jaylen Brown is a big question mark.
The winners of the deal
Joel Embiid is a game-changer when he's on the court, even if that means he's not one hundred percent healthy. The reality is that staying healthy has become extremely difficult for Embiid, and unfortunately, that leads to the Sixers collapsing if he's out for long periods of time. James played in at least 70 games in each of the past three seasons. He also proved that he could put the team on his back for small stretches if needed. That should ease Embiid a bit.
Dean Wade was one LeBron decision away from being the fifth starter for the Sixers. They would've been fine with that--after all--the Sixers put $38.7 million on the table for him. I'm confident that Wade would've had a hard time satisfying the fans while consistently playing alongside several All-Stars. With LeBron taking so much of the spotlight, Wade can either quietly make his millions off the bench or thrive in a reserve role, giving the same kind of value he did on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
This might not be a popular winner, but Tyrese Maxey! With him, I'm going to take the opposite stance from Brown, because we know enough about Maxey at this point. He knows how to balance selflessness and selfishness well on the court. In fact, the Sixers have pounded the table for Maxey to be more aggressive, and in a way, selfish over the years. He's good enough to take over, but at the end of the day, he wants to make the right play.
Maxey's been the Sixers' starting point guard since the departure of James Harden. After averaging 3.3 assists through his first three seasons, Maxey averaged 6.3 assists over the past three years. He's gotten better on the ball, but those who have been paying close attention know just how comfortable and dominant he can be off of it. Plus, he's tight with LeBron James. If LeBron feels like he needs to be the playmaker, I'm confident that Maxey will embrace that.
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