{"id":775422,"date":"2026-07-03T00:58:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T00:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/775422\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T00:58:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T00:58:12","slug":"philadelphia-76ers-expected-to-make-a-pitch-for-lebron-james","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/775422\/","title":{"rendered":"Philadelphia 76ers Expected To Make A Pitch For LeBron James"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2024<\/p>\n

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – JULY 17: LeBron James #6 of the United States reacts during after an exhibition game between the United States and Serbia ahead of the Paris Olympic Games at Etihad Arena on July 17, 2024 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Christopher Pike\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Getty Images<\/p>\n

While the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat had been the three main teams expected to target LeBron James<\/a> in free agency, at least one other team is also going to be in the mix.<\/p>\n

The Philadelphia 76ers are the latest team to enter the LeBron Sweepstakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy understanding is the Sixers will also be making a pitch to LeBron\u2019s agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports to see if they can get in that contention to get LeBron James, who is a free agent and obviously listening right now in unrestricted free agency,” ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania said Thursday on SportsCenter.<\/p>\n

The Sixers, of course, engineered a blockbuster trade with the Boston Celtics for Jaylen Brown on Wednesday, trading away 36-year-old Paul George along with two first-round and two second-round picks for a player who was just outside the NBA MVP conversation this past season. The trade was widely viewed as a huge win for the Sixers, with ESPN\u2019s Mike Wilbon calling it \u201cinsane.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sixers, who beat the Celtics in the first round of the NBA playoffs, also on Thursday added free agent guard Anfernee Simons on a 2-year, $12.3 million deal to bolster their weak bench, per Charania.<\/p>\n

Simons averaged 14.3 points and shot 39% from deep last season.<\/p>\n

The Sixers could now field a starting five of Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Brown, Dean Wade and Joel Embiid next season. Brown spoke Thursday with Maxey and Edgecombe, Charania reported.<\/p>\n

They had the third-best odds to win the Eastern Conference, and that was before the addition of Simons, per DraftKings.<\/p>\n

As for Brown, he issued the following statement on Thursday<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“First and foremost, thank you to the Most High, even in the midst of adversity. I’m here with gratitude. <\/p>\n

“I\u2019m still processing how this all went down. I\u2019m excited and disappointed at the same time. I earned my respect from this city. I never asked for shortcuts or special treatment. I simply showed up every day, put my head down, and accepted every challenge. <\/p>\n

“The relationships I built here, the battles we fought together, the championship we brought to this city, and the connection I shared with the fans, I\u2019ll carry on with me. <\/p>\n

“Saying goodbye isn\u2019t easy when you\u2019ve invested your heart into something. <\/p>\n

“I\u2019m big on respect and actions speak louder than words. To the people of Boston, thank you. To the community I built here I love you, and to the shiftaz we are locked in for life.<\/p>\n

“As one chapter closes, another begins. <\/p>\n

“I\u2019m excited for what\u2019s ahead and grateful for the opportunity to join Philadelphia. Every city has its own identity, its own passion, and its own expectation. I respect that, and I\u2019m looking forward to earning that respect the only way I know how.. through the work. <\/p>\n

\u201cPhilly – throw the ball up let\u2019s get it!\u201d<\/p>\n

As for James, he will be 42 in December and announced this week he will be moving on from his eight-year tenure with the L.A. Lakers.<\/p>\n

The 76ers are already shaping up to be one of the most compelling teams in the NBA and would be Must-See TV with the addition of LeBron James.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – JULY 17: LeBron James #6 of the United States reacts during after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":775423,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,9688,85],"class_list":["post-775422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-philadelphia-76ers","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=775422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/775423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=775422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=775422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=775422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}