LeBron James just made history after overtaking Utah Jazz legend Karl Malone to become the second-best scorer of all time. The King has struggled to lead his team to the top of the Western Conference, as the Los Angeles Lakers are 11 games under the .500 mark. Still, if he wasn’t there, many people believe the situation would be worse for the Purple and Gold.
A lot has been said about James’ future in the league, especially knowing that his son Bronny could make it to the association in a couple of years. He’s tied to the Lakers until 2023, and once his contract is up, he can sign with whoever he wants. However, there were rumors suggesting he could leave the franchise a lot earlier than expected given the bad results they were getting this campaign.
During the 2022 All-Star Weekend, many rumors surfaced suggesting he could be living his last days as a Laker. The Cleveland Cavaliers were mentioned as a possible destination for the 37-year-old, even more, when he said he could play one more time with them. James clarified his comments, but that didn’t mean it was the end of the story.
After that, many people decided to ‘predict’ what would happen with LeBron James, with some proposing big trades involving the 4x NBA champion. Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix and Howard Beck recently discussed this topic, with Beck picking the Philadelphia 76ers as a potential destination for the legend.
“The craziest one in all of this, could you send him to the Sixers to play with Harden and Embiid?” Beck pondered during an episode of “The Crossover NBA Show,” via Heavy. “I know there’s too many guys who are going to want to have the ball in their hands. We’re already experiencing this with the Lakers team.
“But [Sixers GM Daryl Morey] absolutely would do it. Could you get [Tyrese] Maxey and [Matisse] Thybulle out of it? And then they offload Tobias Harris and give Daryl more flexibility in his payroll? I don’t know. Again, folks, I’m just spitballing, I’m not making serious trade proposals here. Don’t freak out.”
This seems like an appealing trade for the 17-time NBA champions, who could easily go into rebuilding mode after this terrible season. They assembled a team full of veterans, and the Sixers could give them the youth they need, even trading young stud Tyrese Maxey.
“It is interesting,” Mannix responded. “I think you’d want more. You’d want picks and the Sixers gave up a bunch of them [to the Nets] or a couple of them.”
LeBron’s tenure with the Lakers has been bittersweet. Yes, he won the NBA championship in 2020, but everybody believes that was a big fluke since the Lakers played in the infamous Orlando bubble, with no pressure from rival fans and with many players showing their desire to leave that place as soon as possible.
The Sixers were one of his potential landing spots when he decided to leave Cleveland in 2018, but his wife made him select Los Angeles. Now things could be different for the King. If he goes to Philly, he’d create a terrific trio with James Harden and Joel Embiid. Even though it could go all wrong, it could happen, especially knowing that Daryl Morey loves having superstars on his teams.
This is all speculation, and we’ll have to wait until the offseason to see if the Sixers or any other team decides to make a move for Bron.
