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The Philadelphia 76ers started their offseason with an aggressive acquisition of Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics.
Philly sent Paul George and three first-round picks to their bitter rivals for Brown, with many questioning the end-goal with that move, as Brown and Joel Embiid are both on supermax contracts.
After LeBron James decided he would join the 76ers, it became clear that the Brown move might have helped them make their case to James.
76ers GM Mike Gansey confirms Jaylen Brown’s impact on LeBron James’ decision
76ers GM and President of Basketball Mike Gansey was in the booth for the Philadelphia Phillies’ MLB game and discussed the impact of the Brown acquisition on LeBron’s decision.
“I called Rich (Paul) right away and said, ‘Hey, we got Jaylen, is there a chance LeBron wants to come to us?’ And obviously it was like, ‘This changes some things’.”
“They talked about it, and the whole process of three weeks or whatever it went, they did their due diligence with LeBron and our players… It was a long process, but we don’t get LeBron without Jaylen.”
It’s been widely reported, and also confirmed by Paul, that the 76ers only became a viable free agent destination for LeBron after they acquired Brown from the Celtics.
Ultimately, that addition beat out the potentially title-worthy homecomings on the Cavaliers or the Heat, and the potential of being teammates with Steph Curry on the Warriors.
The 76ers were the best win-now destination for LeBron James
After adding Brown, it became clear that James could be the biggest difference-maker for a championship on the 76ers.
The team had a clear hole in their starting five at power forward, which James can seamlessly fix. He also helps with potential playmaking problems since point guard Tyrese Maxey is a better scorer than creator.
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The 76ers also have enough competitive roster depth, with a legitimate 10-man rotation including summer additions such as Anfernee Simons, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Dean Wade.
They also retain viable pieces of last year’s team, such as Justin Edwards and Adem Bona, while also adding Labaron Philon Jr. as a first-round pick.
The Cavs have more stylistic problems with James Harden at point than Maxey in Philly, while the Heat roster is already depleted after the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade.
James can make history as the first player to win a title with four different organisations, and the 76ers clearly give him the best shot at doing that before he inevitably has to retire.
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