Philadelphia 76ers Land LeBron James and Jaylen Brown in a Summer of Total Commitment

The Philadelphia 76ers finished last season 45-37, squeezed through the play-in, climbed out of a 3-1 hole against Boston, and then got swept by New York in the second round — the first team in NBA history to manage both the comeback and the sweep in the same postseason. That is an odd foundation to build on. Philadelphia's front office looked at it and decided the answer was to trade Paul George for an All-Star, spend the full mid-level on a role player, and then talk a 41-year-old LeBron James into signing for less money than he made as a rookie in 2003. Say what you want about the Sixers' summer; nobody mailed it in.

LeBron James is a Sixer, and the price was almost nothing

James told the Lakers on June 30 that he wasn't coming back. He announced Philadelphia as his choice on July 24, calling it his "last decision," and the team made the signing official on July 27. The terms: two years, roughly $8 million, with a player option on the second season. His 2026-27 salary is the 10-year veteran minimum of $3,876,529 — less than the roughly $4.02 million he earned as an 18-year-old rookie in Cleveland.

"I believe I can help make the Philadelphia 76ers a championship team and I am so excited to energize a new fan base," James said. He also acknowledged he had seriously considered retiring after the Lakers' first-round exit against Oklahoma City: "I still want to sacrifice. I still want to work. I still want to grind. I still want to compete, to win."

This will be his 24th season and his fourth franchise, at 41. The projected lineup around him is Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, James and Joel Embiid, with James expected to handle a real share of the point guard work. The reasonable skepticism isn't about whether he can still play. It's about whether a rotation this top-heavy has anyone left to guard the second unit.

Jaylen Brown cost four picks and Paul George

On July 1, ESPN's Shams Charania reported the deal that reset the Eastern Conference: Boston sent Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia for Paul George, a 2028 first-round pick, an unprotected 2031 first, a 2028 second (the most favorable of Golden State, Oklahoma City and Milwaukee) and a 2030 second. Brown is a four-time All-Star and the 2024 Finals MVP who averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists last season while carrying Boston through Jayson Tatum's Achilles rehab.

The context makes it stranger. Philadelphia had just eliminated Boston in seven games, and Brown had reportedly learned he'd been included in Milwaukee trade discussions. Two franchises that genuinely dislike each other made the biggest trade of the offseason with each other, which only happens when both sides are convinced they're fleecing the other.

How the 76ers filled out the rest of the roster

• Dean Wade (June 30): four years, starting at $9 million with 5% raises, $38.7 million total, with a partial guarantee in the final year. This consumed the full mid-level exception.
• Ariel Hukporti (July 1): one year, $3.4 million.
• Anfernee Simons (July 2): two years, $12.3 million, player option on year two. He averaged 14.2 points on 39.5% from three in Boston before being dealt to Chicago.
• Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (late July): reportedly Philadelphia-bound after negotiating a buyout with Memphis, per Chris Haynes.

Simons is the one that matters most on paper. Philadelphia ranked in the bottom three in the league in bench scoring and bench threes last season, and both Kelly Oubre Jr. (who signed with Indiana) and Quentin Grimes (Lakers) walked in free agency. Caldwell-Pope, 33, is a three-time champion who won a ring alongside James in 2020, though last season in Memphis he shot just 31.6% from three and averaged 8.4 points in 21.3 minutes. He had surgery on his right pinkie in February and is expected to be ready for camp. He had exercised a $21.6 million player option with the Grizzlies before deciding he'd rather chase a title.

The Philadelphia 76ers cap math is uncomfortably tight

Using the full mid-level on Wade hard-capped the Sixers at the first apron, roughly $209 million, through June 30, 2027. Before the James signing they sat around $205.6 million, about $3.4 million of room. Here's the wrinkle: because James signed a multi-year minimum deal rather than a one-year, the league doesn't reimburse the team for the gap between the 10-year and two-year minimum, so his full $3.9 million lands on the cap sheet. That alone eats the cushion.

The escape hatches are small and obvious. Dalen Terry's $2.6 million is fully non-guaranteed until January 10, and Jabari Walker sits in a similar spot. There's also a $4.47 million trade exception left over from the Jared McCain deal. None of that is real flexibility. It's just enough to make the roster legal once Caldwell-Pope is added, which means at least one more subtraction is coming before training camp.

Labaron Philon Jr. made Vegas worth watching

The Sixers took Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr. at No. 22, using the pick they acquired from Oklahoma City in the McCain trade, and he was one of the more entertaining players in Las Vegas. He opened with 18 points and seven assists against Detroit and hit the game-winner. He followed with 22 points and two turnovers against Indiana, including the deciding basket in overtime. Through two games he averaged 21 points and 6.5 assists.

Summer League coach TJ DiLeo called him "a gamer." Nick Nurse suggested he could be "a rotational piece." Jaylen Brown turned up to watch one of his games in person. On a roster with Maxey, Edgecombe and Simons ahead of him, none of that guarantees minutes, but a 6-foot-4 guard who makes clean decisions under pressure is a useful thing to have stashed at the end of a hard-capped bench.

Edgecombe is the other young piece worth tracking. The No. 3 pick in 2025 out of Baylor made the All-Rookie First Team last season, and he now slots in as the starting shooting guard on a team where he is, at most, the fourth option. That is a strange developmental environment. It can accelerate a young wing who thrives on cuts, transition and defending the other team's best guard, or it can stall someone who needed the ball in his hands to grow. Nick Nurse has spent his career finding roles for players in exactly this spot, and Philadelphia needs Edgecombe to be a genuine two-way starter rather than a spectator, because there is no money left to buy an alternative.

What's next on the calendar

Two preseason dates are set, and they are not subtle: Philadelphia is at Boston on October 10 and hosts Boston on October 16. Brown against George, twice, in exhibitions nobody will treat as exhibitions. The rest of the preseason slate hasn't been released. The full NBA regular-season schedule typically lands in mid-August, and Emirates NBA Cup group play begins October 30. Training camp opens in late September, with media day immediately ahead of it, and the regular season tips in late October.

The question hanging over all of it is Joel Embiid, who has appeared in 96 games across the last three seasons and who reportedly assured both the front office and James personally that he's healthy and ready. That's a report, not a medical chart, and anyone following Philadelphia 76ers news has earned the right to wait for evidence rather than assurances. The rest of the roster is built to survive an Embiid absence better than any of his previous teams: Brown and James can each carry an offense, Maxey is an All-NBA guard, and Edgecombe made All-Rookie First Team. What this group cannot survive is a fourth straight April spent explaining itself. Philadelphia has one apron-capped, minimum-salaried, 41-year-old swing at this, and everyone in the building knows exactly how narrow the window is.