Sixers keep playing this well, my Lebron James to Philly scenario next summer won't seem so crazy.
They’re 7-6 and lost to the Kings last week. They’re not god-awful like they were for the past four seasons, but they don’t seem to be anywhere near the level of attracting an aging superstar looking to win another title. And, compared to some NBA cities, Philly isn’t the most attractive.
(They’d also need to do a small salary dump too, but finding someone to take Bayless for a year shouldn’t be too hard given their draft assets. But that’s not the primary reason your scenario is crazy).
Come on now, remember Cleveland was 33-49 when James decided to go back. I understand it was his home, but they weren't exactly a juggernaut. What Cleveland had was a budding superstar in Kyrie Irving and the #1 pick in the draft in Wiggins. Philly is actually in a much better position than Cleveland was and it isn't close (assuming Embiid and Simmons are relatively healthy). They will likely be a playoff team. They will have two budding superstars in Embiid and Simmons (not even counting the most recent #1 pick), and they will have a lot more and better young players to fill in on the bench or to be traded for vets (Fultz, Saric, Covington, etc. are way better than Waiters, Thompson, Bennett, etc.).
The Sixers are in the East. They have 2 or 3 potential superstars. They have a ton of young player assets and first round picks that can be traded (including the LA or Sacto pick, which should be highly valuable). They can sign James without giving up anything of value (as you say just dumping Bayless which is easy enough).
If James leaves Cleveland, and I still think that is a big if, the Sixers are one of the very limited few teams that actually make a lot of sense. Far more sense than the Lakers who have worse young players, are a much worse team without a draft pick, and play in the West.
Topic: All Things Philadelphia 76ers (merged Sixers threads) (Read 369915 times)