LeBron James’ signing adds an exclamation point to the Sixers’ transformational summer

LeBron James’ Friday morning news dump did not come via an ESPN television special or a Sports Illustrated open letter.

Or on his agent’s podcast, for that matter.

Instead, it was one tweet from ESPN news-breaker Shams Charania. And another from James’ agency, Klutch Sports, with confirmation. Then a thread of tweets from LeBron himself, with an initial explanation of what he is calling his final decision.

It was gargantuan all the same. For the NBA. And for Philly.

LeBron is a Sixer. So is Jaylen Brown. And Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe, for that matter. And it all brings together arguably the most improbable-yet-transformative offseason in franchise history under new president of basketball operations Mike Gansey.

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James, who has agreed to sign a two-year, $8 million deal, The Inquirer confirmed, will finish his legendary career with a team with which he has far less prior connection than his other reported suitors. He did not choose the hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. Or the Miami Heat, where he won his first two NBA championships. Or even the Golden State Warriors, where it is easily commutable from Los Angeles if his family chose to stay there.

But “everything changed,” agent Rich Paul said on his Game Over podcast, once the Sixers pulled off the blockbuster trade for Brown.

Playing with Tyrese Maxey, a fellow premier Klutch client who has worked out with James since Maxey’s pre-draft process, went from theoretical to realistic. Working with a young VJ Edgecombe was intriguing to James, Paul said. A source close to James also told The Inquirer Friday that James has known Sixers co-owner David Blitzer for many years, and appreciates the franchise’s history and passionate fan base.

Still, James waited more than three weeks to make his last basketball-destination decision. Contenders brought their pitches, privately and publicly. As the NBA convened in Las Vegas for Summer League, Sixers and Cavaliers representatives lingered in the lobby of the same luxury hotel. Elsewhere on the Strip, a Denver Nuggets staffer told a group that the team was still hopeful about its chances to land James. But far more speculation than actual insight percolated from NBA team insiders and plugged-in followers.

Yet there was purpose behind James’ elongated timeline, a source said.

That was possible because, unlike past free agencies, James was willing to take far less money than his previous earned contracts and instead prioritized happiness and the opportunity to compete for a championship. He spent the past couple days in Los Angeles with his family, the source said, and likely played some golf. No big announcement (or an announcement of an announcement) was planned.

Instead, James told Paul that he would call him when he had made his choice, and then Paul would call the team, the source said.

That the Sixers were even in position to make these splashes is the equivalent of a basketball roster-building miracle.

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Remember, this team is less than 17 months removed from concluding a 2024-25 season when Embiid and Paul George’s constant health issues turned championship aspirations into disaster. And less than three months removed from the jarring flip from the euphoria of rallying to beat the Boston Celtics in the playoffs’ first round to getting swept by the eventual champion New York Knicks. And the Sixers went into the offseason with quiet expectations, given Embiid and George had multiple years remaining on max contracts widely viewed as difficult to trade.

Then they found perhaps the only scenario in which they could unload George’s albatross contract and upgrade, adding an All-NBA wing in Brown. And they landed James when he no longer found salary relevant, but is still an All-Star-caliber player with exceptional basketball IQ and championship experience.

That all led to Friday morning’s series of tweets, and the capper on a transformative-yet-improbable offseason.