since the Jaylen trade<\/a>,\u201d Gansey told The Athletic. \u201cLeBron and his camp have kept quiet, and there has been speculation for different teams. But we\u2019d obviously love to have LeBron. I respect the heck out of him. In my opinion, he\u2019s the best player of all time. I think his decision is dragging out because he has a lot of good options and he wants to figure it out. He would obviously add a lot to our team. But at the end of the day, I know he\u2019s going to make the right decision for him and his family.\u201d<\/p>\nThe appeal for Philadelphia, from a basketball standpoint, is straightforward and multi-pronged.<\/p>\n
With Brown, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid on the roster, James would finally have the chance, at the ripe age of 41, to be a blender and not have to shoulder the bulk of offensive responsibility. And with Brown, VJ Edgecombe and Dean Wade on the roster, James would also be insulated from defending on the perimeter at a high volume. He could come in, be a playmaker and affect games from multiple angles, all while conserving energy for a deep playoff run.<\/p>\n
A Sixers team without James would have one of basketball\u2019s best starting lineups. With James, there wouldn\u2019t be much doubt in that department. Still, the Sixers know they have real competition for James\u2019 services. The Cleveland Cavaliers are thought to be a favorite. The Miami Heat have a real chance as well. The Golden State Warriors would offer James the opportunity to play with close personal friends Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. The Minnesota Timberwolves make the same kind of basketball sense for James that the 76ers do.<\/p>\n
The team that makes the most sense for LeBron James<\/p>\n
Esfandiar Baraheni<\/p>\n
Gansey has extensive experience with James. He was in the Cavaliers\u2019 front office when Cleveland won the title in 2016. In Gansey\u2019s playing days, the two were on an all-state team together in Ohio, with a clean-cut, teenage Gansey posing with LeBron and the other all-staters for a photo.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose years I had with him in Cleveland were incredible,\u201d Gansey said.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s one of the things that isn\u2019t talked about as much when it comes to Philadelphia\u2019s candidacy, but the 76ers have several personal connections to James that could matter. James has had a long relationship with Maxey, and the two have a mutual admiration. Maxey and Philadelphia head coach Nick Nurse are also Klutch clients with James. Nelson and James played against each other for years in the NBA.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a relationship business, and the Sixers have relationships. How much will it mean? The optimism is cautious. But their hat is in the proverbial ring and awaiting a decision.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u201dI think it\u2019s been fun,\u201d Edgecombe said. \u201cIt\u2019s LeBron James, at the end of the day. To me, he\u2019s the greatest player of all time. So, it would be amazing if he decided to come and play with us. Our goal is to win a championship. If we do get him, we\u2019ll be happy. If not, we\u2019ll still be happy. But it would be great if we do get him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS \u2014 Mike Gansey and the Philadelphia 76ers don\u2019t have an inkling which way the LeBron James…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4794,69,1002,71,70],"class_list":["post-242779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-nba","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-76ers","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}