The Philadelphia 76ers certainly seem to expect LeBron James to be a crucial part of their offense next season.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Monday that the Sixers intend to deploy James as a point guard and primary ballhandler this season. That will allow Tyrese Maxey to shift into an off-ball role and focus more on scoring.
“The Sixers are expecting LeBron James to play a good amount of time at the point guard position on offense, initiating the offense for Nick Nurse,” Charania said.
.@ShamsCharania reports the Philadelphia 76ers are planning on LeBron James playing at the point guard position 👀 pic.twitter.com/qUP4zWO03I
— ESPN (@espn) July 27, 2026
The 76ers’ rationale for the decision is pretty clear. They have plenty of scoring in Maxey and Jaylen Brown, as well as Joel Embiid when he is healthy. James can use his superior vision and basketball IQ to serve as a distributor and keep the offense running efficiently.
As Charania notes, the idea of “Point LeBron” has really only been put into practice once, during the Los Angeles Lakers’ title-winning 2019-20 season. James led the league with 10.2 assists per game that year, so he is certainly capable of it.
By all accounts, James joined the 76ers because he sees them as the best basketball fit and his best opportunity to win a championship. This might be an example to back up that reasoning.
