Pitching LeBron James to the 76ers 😳 ‘He’d fit in GREAT there’ – Brian Windhorst | NBA Today

Pitching LeBron James to the 76ers 😳 ‘He’d fit in GREAT there’ – Brian Windhorst | NBA Today

[Applause] Zero’s on the clock the Nuggets Advance tonight was there any thought at all that you know this could have been your last game with the Lakers I’m not going to answer that appreciate it so LeBron did not answer that after losing in five to the Nuggets but he has until June 29th to decide whether he opts into his current contract or opts out and becomes a free agent next season will be LeBron’s 22nd season in the league tying Vince Carter for the most seasons ever played and LeBron can actually make slightly more money over the next three seasons if he opts in and extends rather than opting out and resigning however if he opts out and resigns he is eligible for a no trade clause so for more on LeBron’s Future Let’s welcome in our senior writer Chris Herring thank you so much for joining us Chris and you put out an article on dotom that literally stopped me in my tracks when I was scrolling social media did the same happen to you when you saw it on social I didn’t mean for it to but it did uh my sister uh called me she was picking up my nephew from school my 99-year-old nephew and she thought that I had broken a story on LeBron switching teams and you know I’m not it’s not really my specialty I was just kind of theorizing things that I think would be interesting for the league and obviously was interesting to the people reading and and maybe misconstruing the fact that LeBron still plays for the Lakers for right now yes this is all hypothetical you listed 10 offseason moves that you would like to see and included in that article is LeBron to the 76ers if he were to opt out of his current contract so why don’t we do this let’s play a little hypothetical game what is your elevator pitch for LeBron to the 76ers well for starters they’ve got the cap space to get them they have a ton of cap space they’ve kind of been preparing for this moment to try to build the team around Joel embiid they now have an Allstar and Tyrese Maxi Maxi’s also played with a a a top tier ball handler in James Harden so he’s used to having the ball but giving the ball up to another playmaker uh embiid obviously was the MVP Maxi is not even in his prime yet you would imagine he’s starting to enter that in the next couple Seasons this is a team that watched Tobias Harris have a scoreless game six to close out their playoffs at the position that LeBron would be inheriting if he were to join that team you have to imagine that if emid is healthy LeBron is healthy Maxi’s healthy that they take the pressure off each other and the the ball handling responsibilities off each other and that they are top tier team they they already are close to that and that this might put them over the top if he joins H I’m feeling like a little bit of Goosebumps I’m feeling a little bit of deja vu Brian LeBron to Philly have we heard this pitch before well since we’re talking about sisters happy birthday to my sister Kristen but when I think about LeBron’s free agency I get very excited thinking about Philadelphia because I think about the players they have the cap space they have their present their future being in a better place in the Eastern Conference and and I really think that LeBron would fit great there which is what I thought in 2018 when this exact same situation happened and LeBron didn’t give Philly a tenth of a second and so therefore with all due respect to Chris’s pitch I don’t think he’s giving it a tenth of a second this time either um while I would never rule anything out with LeBron I think the primary reason he would opt out of this contract is to work on the structure of the deal as you mentioned Chan possibly putting in a no trade clause but also potentially working in other options to Future years in a contract and that’s where I think we’re ultimately headed 24 seconds on the clock what’s your pitch for LeBron staying in La well he’s got his whole family there the Lakers are still positioned to draw players and he has to think about life after basketball as much as you want to debate about the quality of the championship that he won with the Lakers I say raised a banner accounts just like all the rest of them I will tell you it will not be a great legacy if he’s known as a guy who won a from the Lakers so enjoy life as being a Laker get a bunch of money where you can get more than anywhere else staying there and don’t look back yeah good job Wendy you hit the 24 that was clean Drea just went like another she doubled her time but it’s okay although it’s fun to run through these hypotheticals let’s get back to reality as Wendy just said he’s most likely going to stay with the Lakers and we know that this in this city the standard is championships so Chris is there a path for LeBron and the Lakers to really compete for a title next season I think that’s Up For Debate but I will say this if you’re LeBron you’re you’re in the conversation to be the greatest player of all time you’re going to have faith in the fact that you and Anthony Davis stayed largely healthy this season something you haven’t been able to say each year that they’ve been there so you work around that if you bring in another top tier Talent which they have the ability to do they have to figure out if they want to make a trade you work around that and you figure look we didn’t really have the greatest shot at it this season we weren’t able to stay healthy with the rest of the roster with some key guys so if those guys come back healthy you make a run at this potentially with the new coach you kind of figure it out from there but I think if you’ve got your solid core there and him and Davis and you potentially bring in another key player it it could look different and you’re going to feel like if maybe you don’t run into the defending champs that you’ve got a better shot at it to at least make a run which is what they did the year before last and Wendy isn’t bringing in another key player a must because we watched the Western Conference the Lakers stayed the same while the West got better is that a reality that they have to face this offseason yes they’re absolutely going to change the the comp the uh makeup of the roster the question is how they do it and that really is going to center around D’Angelo Russell we’re talking about Lebron’s contract option the real question on the Lakers is what D’Angelo Russell is going to do he has a player option for next season for about $18 million uh if he opts into that contract and becomes a one-year $18 million a year player I would say it’s almost a certainty he’s going to get traded somewhere else probably with one of the Lakers first round picks to try to upgrade the roster guess who knows this D’Angelo Russell that’s why he may consider opting out of his contract to try to get the Lakers to have to resign him otherwise they might have to go into other parts of their roster to improve it but one other thing I will point out if Russell Ops out of his contract and LeBron Ops out of his contract the Lakers potentially would be able to have access to the mid-level exception that would bring free agency into play for them LeBron might not have to might have to take less than the max but I guess it would depend on the free agent they going after so there’s multiple different ways the Lakers can go but it really all starts with Russell’s decision and that’s going to be a big Focus after they get their coach named you know going off of what one thing that Chris said and one thing that Wendy said you know Chris when you talk about as long as they don’t run into the defending champs the defending champs yes but who took down the defending champs the Timberwolves we’re just we’re watching the Mavs we see what OKC has like the West is ridiculous I just pick your poison when it comes to the opponents and the the Kings what are the Warriors going to do like the West is a brutal conference just absolutely so that’s a tough part if he chooses to stay with the Lakers and then Wendy you talk about potentially DLo right and so say they replace the point guard that only solves one of the question marks that this roster had there were question marks defensively there were question marks when it came to three-point shooting there were question marks when it came to consistency there are question marks when it came to coaching they’re still trying to find a coach like even if you replace a player and bring in a superstar whoever it is even if it’s a three and D guy there are still a lot of question marks with this Lakers team when it comes to competing for a championship next year what it feels like to me is whatever piece they get it’s just a step in the right direction it doesn’t seem like it’s a step for them next season to be hanging a banner [Music]

Brian Windhorst, Chiney Ogwumike, Andraya Carter and Chris Herring join NBA Today to discuss the possibility of LeBron James opting out of his player option and making a move to the Philadelphia 76ers to team up with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

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