When LeBron James announced that he wouldn’t return to the Los Angeles Lakers, a few teams that surfaced as options were the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors.
However, on Tuesday, ESPN’s Shams Charania named another team that James is reportedly “really considering.”
That team is the Philadelphia 76ers, and Charania adds that the acquisition of Jaylen Brown has been intriguing to James.
“Philadelphia was not in the picture,” Charania said. “When the Sixers got Jaylen Brown, I found within 24 hours that he [LeBron James] is taking their pitch really seriously. I look at it, when I talk to teams now, as kind of a hierarchy of Cleveland, Miami, Philadelphia.”
"When the Sixers got Jaylen Brown… [LeBron James is] taking their pitch really seriously. I look at it, when I talk to teams now, as kind of a hierarchy of Cleveland, Miami, Philadelphia."
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 7, 2026
– Shams 👀
(via @stephenasmith)pic.twitter.com/95omC0y09D
The Cavaliers continue to be viewed as the frontrunner. James is from Akron, Ohio, and began his NBA career with the Cavs, so it would be a storybook ending to a legendary career.
However, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported that interested teams haven’t heard anything from LeBron James or his reps at this time, which is a bit off given that it is one week into July.
Still, if James were to go to the 76ers, it would give them a Big 3 of Brown, James and Joel Embiid, along with Tyrese Maxey, in an interesting turn of events.
