[Charania] The Philadelphia 76ers expect to play LeBron James “a good amount” at the PG position to be the primary initiator and playmaker for Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Jaylen Brown.
Positions are dead. He’ll distribute on offense when he has the ball, cut when he doesn’t, and guard the opposing team’s least mobile non-center on defense.
Yeah with a lineup full of guys who can shoot and drive you’d think the ball would move a lot until one of the guys gets a good position to drive or an open shot.
The brown, maxey, VJ, LeBron, embiid lineup has 5 guys who can shoot and attack the rim. Embiid may not be so amazing at driving any more but he’s still got good footwork and size for a lot of people.
I don’t see LeBron dribbling the air out of the ball as PG
I have this weird feeling that VJ is going to have explosive growth as a player alongside LeBron. He seems to have the athleticism, brain, and work ethic to absorb everything the old king has to offer
He’s going to have his reaves moment. LeBron can build up guys with confidence. Will be amazing to see his progression over this upcoming season
The VJ lobs from Lebron will be insane
I want Lebron to average like 12 APG and have multiple lobs every game….will be awesome
Yeah I agree. I feel like there are areas of his game that picking LeBron’s brain on will really help. His bbiq is so high for an athletic rookie. I feel like so many super athletic rookies are eating paste out there.
Seems like he could be a super athletic KCP who was great next to LeBron
Jimmy butler 2.0 imo, kid’s a dawg.
D. Wade 2.0, and i’m not talking about Dean
VJ has superstar potential. LeBron is going to do so much for this team’s development.
He’s going to become the greatest player of all time
I doubt it. Like in any other context sure but with Embiid, Maxey, Lebron, and Brown all taking 16-20 shots a game idk how many are left for VJ
He’s gonna get a lot of corner three opportunities, probably some back door cuts when the defense collapses on the other 4
Far more things to learn than just shooting, VJ can be an incredible 2 way player as he develops
Sure but I just struggle to see how his development gets turbocharged in this environment. Part of developing is getting reps as a scorer, reps he will not get now that he is going to the 5th option behind four score-first players with high usage rates. He’ll have fewer chances to develop as a scorer/shooter and as a ball handler, and this environment won’t necessarily be better for him to develop as a defender. His development would have been better served by having the opportunity to play a bigger role
Part of learning is being taught by the best teachers in the world. Yes, reps do help. But learning under the best professor in the world does too.
Basketball is more than just muscle memory and reps.
He’s a 22 year old playing alongside arguably the best player to ever play the game, who has a genius level basketball IQ. Reps’ can’t replicate that.
Is there any examples of this? A team this stacked I have a hard time seeing VJ grows so much.
Maxey still credits Harden for a lot of the savvy offensive moves. Harden unlocked Maxey the first year they were together. Maxey was not a very good facilitator before Harden… he has gotten better but those years with the Beard really opened up some things for him.
Noted passers Embiid and Brown will love to wait on the ball and then pass it immediately.
But Nurse is a good coach and LeBron commands respect so they’ll probably be fine. I see Embiid in the KD role on defense, Maxey and Brown slashing and the fifth spot rotating based on situation. Should be a tough out in the playoffs, if everyone is healthy.
All you tell me here is you don’t watch the sixers if you think embiid can’t pass. He’s been excellent for three plus seasons.
Oh no, he’s excellent, but it’s predicated on being the focus of the offense and holding the ball constantly. I still remember how amazing Maxey looked against us in the Bells Palsy Embiid games - until Embiid went out. He’s a great player on offense still.
Embiid is a Harden/Kobe type player, he needs the ball and time, and he’s always had it. But he did fine on the Olympic team, he’ll probably adjust. It will take months, I’m guessing, it’s his team after all. Even the Heatles took months to work it all out.
Yeah fair it will take time. But the embiid buttler and embiid harden pairs clicked pretty fast as a counter example.
The whole team will need some time though of course
I think it’s probably about the perfect time for everyone other than brown.
Maxey and VJ are still young enough that being around LeBron could be huge for their development, so I don’t expect them to resist buy in.
Embiid is old enough that he knows every year could be his last opportunity to win a title, so I can easily see him being willing to drop any ego without much trouble as long as it’s about winning
Brown is probably the most important and toughest player to sell on it.
I’m hoping being dumped by his team despite the success will light the fire. I agree with who is the concern
Brown really isn’t much of a slasher
That lineup has 5 guys that can shoot and 2 that can shoot well
If you say so. All of those guys can hit an open shot. Admittedly it seems LeBron had a really bad shooting season last year.
Are you happy giving Jaylen Brown, LeBron or embiid a wide open shot?
I will not have two feet in the paint if I’m guarding those guys, but I’m also not closing out too hard because - as you pointed out - all those guys are very dangerous drivers that are more likely to compromise my team’s defense
they’re all good enough shooters to affect the floor geometry, but three of those guys are bad enough shooters that I’m pretty happy as a defense if that’s the shot their offense produces
eta: also they’re probably bad enough that I’m happy playing zone when evaluating only shooting, but you have enough smart passers in that lineup that the decision becomes a little more dicey. Just trying to hone in on where my evaluation of their shooting prowess is
I wonder how much Maxey is going to be on ball tbh
Lots of advanced stats show he is amazing at supressing TOs, on both a player and team level. But he is also amazing off ball
You’d want him off ball because none of their “stars” barring embiid is going to do anything there.
He’s going to be evolved yet again, I’d expect a lot of 15/12/14 style box scores this season
14 assists per game is way more likely than 12 rebounds. He averaged 6 rebounds a game last year and he’s not any younger.
They still don’t have a backup for embiid and it’s tenuous to predict how many games he will actually play
But I do agree probably more assists than rebounds
They have adem bona, a decent young big with defensive upside
There’s no real upside. He’s small, had small hands, can’t catch, fouls too much, and has no offensive output.
I think having no real playmaker to set him up makes him pretty useless on offense. Lebron should be able to get something out of him. He has real defensive upside though if he could be a little more disciplined. He is a solid backup big it’s not like every team has an amazing backup big.
Lmao goddamn this is so savage
lol I’m just being real. We all love his energy and effort but there’s just a lot left to be desired. I would love to be proven wrong.
You could play LeBron 48 minutes per game at center he’s not getting 12 rebounds per game at age 42.
He might die trying to get through the Steven Adams, Zach Edey’s, and Mitchell Robinson’s of the world at his age
For better or worse it’s Huk and Bona. Not that I have high hopes for either of them in the rebounding department
He’s going to bring the ball up the court so they’ll probably just box out for him.
Rebounds for anyone that isn’t an athletic wing or big man are fake stats anyways.
We call those Westbrook rebounds.
Probably like 15/6/12
I’m expecting prime Draymond green numbers from LeBron.
You expect a lot of 12 rebounds a game?
So a point forward basically ?
Yeah they’re throwing LeBron on every 3 point specialist on D lol
LBJs “role” will be PG. Positions are not dead. Roles have expanded. If positions didn’t matter why wouldn’t a team start all 5 players 6’1 - 6’7 all three point shooters
I disagree. A PG is massively necessary. Just look at the Rockets this season. The lack of any floor runner destroyed any semblance of team cohesion. They needed a PG. A lot of teams need one.
Maxey should feast playing off the ball
45% from 3 when Harden was there
Daryl Morey is a liar
Imagine if Morey gave harden the 5 year max he wanted now.. pretty crazy alt timeline
Imagine if he caved in to grimes wanting a long term deal last offseason.
TBH it was never a bad move to ditch Harden, just scummy if Morey went back on any sort of agreement for a future extension like it seems he did
It was a pretty bad move, they wasted like 2 years waiting for PG who has never been better than harden and harden was a better fit. Idk how tobias always scrapes by criticism for hardens time in philly, he was legitimately one of the most pathetic players ive ever seen in 2023 and he was the highest paid player on the team. Him and pj tucker standing in each corner refusing to shoot open 3s was so fucking pathetic. Couldn’t hit open layups, couldn’t hit open 3s and then stopped taking them. They got lucky the celtics wanted brown gone for basically nothing or they’d be stuck still
Pj Tucker was the worst 3pt shooter I’d ever seen that year. Every fucking shot was a brick. It was shocking when it went in. Literally his only ability on offense outside screens and he can’t get it done
Tobias Harris took 0 charges as a Sixer. Fuck that guy
He might have legit thought harden was cooked cuz hamstrings.
Maxey is 100% better as an off ball guard than a PG. He’s not really much of a playmaker, he’s always looking to score and he’s really good at it.
It’s very obvious who doesn’t actually watch the sixers and just wants to rain on the parade when someone says Maxey will struggle in this lineup because he needs to be ball dominant to be effective.
People talking about a team they don’t watch is normal. I know the Sixers very well so I know Maxey will excel off ball. I don’t know Jaylen Brown as well so how he’s going to fit in is a mystery to me. I know Embiid very well so I know having a ball handler who can actually get him the ball in the post is going to be massive. It will be such a treat to watch him work into low post position and have the ball arrive on time for easy buckets.
He reminds me of Devin Booker where he is fine as your primary playmaker, but they are both at their best when they can score first and not worry about running the offense as much
Lebron will have a lot of touch down assists which will help him and Embiid preserve energy.
i was less worried about him, but curious how much VJ, in his 2nd year misses out on overall usage (in such an important year). Maxey should do great off the ball since he was more a 2 than 1.
I don’t see LeBron as much of the issue, but moreso Brown’s needs. And who is going to sacrifice?
It’s not an unwarranted worry, but VJ’s game is so much more than scoring. I think he’s perfectly suited to be a ‘do literally everything else’ type of guy in this set up. His hustle, athleticism and overall youth/energy will be perfect to plug with these vets.
Im just thinking how potent the Sixers transition offense will be. Got 4 dudes who can legit run the break and finish the break. Embiid as the final link should get quite a few looks from top of the key 3 as a trailer.
Maxey, Vj, Brown, Bron on a fast break? Sounds deadly on paper but we gotta see it come to fruition as do they as they work out how to hoop alongside each other with that much firepower.
Transition as well, hes already great there and both JB and LeBron are amazing transition players to play off of. Embiid will be walking up behind them but whatever.
Transition D probably going to be a huge problem. They were already bad with Embiid and LeBron teams are pretty notorious for not getting back in the regular season.
Yeah no shit
One of greatest basketball minds of all time?
Let’s put him in the corner. Lol.
Everyone can only get better from this too. I’d be getting on his nerves with one thousand questions lol.
Nobody puts LeBaby in the corner
I am one of the few who moaned and groaned to anyone who would listen when Luka was traded for AD solely because they played so much of the same position and there might be two people in the league that could make sense on offense to have the ball more as a facilitator: Luka or Jokic. And then they took their only center out of the equation and now have Reaves and Luka who aren’t great defenders but who get more value on offense, which means the value of all three are being wasted on that squad because of overlap. So last year they basically had him trying lots more off ball minded plays, which he gracefully accepted and was still a strong cutter, but it seemed like such an insult to a living legend to do that too. I don’t blame going for Luka and it made 100% sense but man, just send it on for Giannis or something Lebron could still cook in LA. The fact that Luka for Giannis could have possibly been a thing and the Bucks would probably accept it for their new rebuild and future just made that deal so crazy looking back.
Absolutely not. Even if it was possible. I don’t think it work. Lebron’s exit was aready in the works. Them getting Luka wasn’t a win-now move, it secure the future while still competing.
Luka is entering his prime, Giannis has left it and is starting to feeling the wear and tear.
They’re not going to make him a spot up shooter? That’s weird
I thought he’d come off the bench
“Hey Bronny, they want me to come off the bench”
Good he’s the closest thing to an actual point guard on the squad.
Maxey plays best as a scoring guard that can play off of someone else and doesnt have to be responsible as the primary playmaker. And Brown shouldnt be in that role.
LeMagic
LeHe 🙂↔️🫳🏻
Fun fact: LeBron in 2020 was the first guy since Magic in 1987 to win a title while averaging double digit assists in the regular season. Not many guys can handle that level of offensive responsibility at a championship level
[deleted]
I think they can still be great in a half court offense because you can’t double off anyone, but LeBron leading a fast break of Maxey, VJ, and Brown is deadly
you’re saying it like he’d be doing this for a substantial part of their offense
Maxey and Bron were 1 and 2 in fast break points last year, I really do think it’s going to be a big part of the offense.
I can already see the fast break lob from Bron to VJ for the slam.
If Embiid somehow stays healthy this is gonna be disgusting. Drop coverage? Pick-and-pop to Embiid. High blitz? Short roll to Embiid with 4-on-3. Pack the paint? Collapse and kick to Maxey or Brown. Switch? Hunt mismatches. Defense is questionable sure but offensively this is a nightmare
It’s 4 all star starters. GSW anyone?
Wow, you know ball. ‘Hunt mismatches’, is everyone else stupid? Why aren’t they doing it lol
Dude why didn’t every team in the league sign 2 additional all stars to their 2 all star roster they already had for pennys? Are they dumb or something?
I mean everyone doesn’t have 4 starters that can score iso
I feel like putting LeBron at the elbow back to the basket will be elite for this offense. Maxey and VJ coming off screens with LeBrons passing, plus Jaylen Brown. And then obviously Embiid is possibly the best scorer LeBron has ever played with tbh (when healthy, maybe Luka tho)
Bron/Embiid PNR should be very good
Honestly Im most curious about Brown, both offense and defense wise. Like it can be said about a lot of players “if they stop being bad at the things they’re bad at, they’d be amazing”,but the sixers are super scary if Brown locks in on offball defense and getting boards, steals.
LeBron at the elbow back to the basket
But then you’ve clogged up the paint/midrange, which is where Embiid and Brown do their best work.
Dudes gonna go there and have a 5th HoF career
He will be the only guy to actually have 5 different versions of himself in the hypothetical 5v5 clones tournament
Philly Bron at the 1, Young Cavs Bron at the 2, Prime Cavs at the 3, Lakers at the 4, and Heatles at the 5?
I’d put Philly Bron at the 1, Heatles Bron at the 2, Prime Cavs Bron at the 3, Young Cavs Bron at the 4, and Lakers Bron playing center.
2020 LeBron at the 1, 2009 LeBron at the 2, 2013 LeBron at the 3, 2018 LeBron at the 4, and 2023 LeBron at the 5.
With Philly’s team, I truly believe Lebron should go for like 12 assists a game.
Just fucking stack them up. Everyone is a finisher so look to set people up all game while preserving your big spots for late game scenarios.
He should pass cp3 for 2nd all time in assists but still has no shot of catching Stockton.
LeStockton
Hopefully no Malones on the sixers squad lol
The only Malone they need is Moses.
So yea he’s about to just rack up assists like crazy
Bron is averaging 13-15 assists a game
Sluuuuuurrrrp!
Nick Nurse is gonna cook with this team
How is shams so bad at this still
Maxey had his best 3 point shooting seasons (by percentage) with Harden. Embiid won his MVP with harden. I don’t think VJ is gonna get worse with an elite playmaker. I hope Nurse staggers the rotations so we can get LeBron minutes, Maxey minutes, AND minutes with both of them out there. It’d be sick if they had a 3rd playmaker to take the ball up the court for the inevitable minutes you’ll have without either of them but the fact they can run all these different lineups is gonna have lots of teams in hell.
They still have Jaylen Brown and VJ Edgecombe as their 3rd/4th ball handlers lol (and Embiid is a good passer out of the post)
Lakers fans hated him last year with the ball on his hands because the amount of times he would fumble it or turn it over.
Should be a lot easier this year with better teammates
This is generally false because there was a good percentage of fans who felt the offense ran smoother when Bron was running the offense. Can go read old game threads or search laker Twitter circles tweets. He did have a loose handle alot though. Especially when he first came back.
LeBron’s handle has always been overrated. He’s taken great care of his body though so he gets away with it by leveraging his body strength/size and using angles.
Even other NBA players call it out
So it’s not overrated? You just described how well he uses his body and angles when dribbling. We seen him handle the ball multiple time in the playoffs with routine compared to someone like Paul George or KD, who have “good fancy” handles, constantly turn the ball over when pressured.
Yeah, he’s never had crazy handle but last year it was weirder than usual. It was like he didn’t have feeling in his fingertips or something lol. Very odd.
I mean, yeah duh.
I know we just saw LeBron give every last thing he had in the playoffs, but that is unsustainable over a regular season, and I feel like people are purposely forgetting all of his bad turnovers and difficulties finishing at the rim last season. They really should not be planning on playing him more than about 28 mpg for the vast majority of the season.
That’s what makes this fit the best. More than enough high end talent to not have either of them blow the energy just to get to the playoffs.
Lebron will also wear the sleeve
The best passer those 3 have ever played with
I wouldn’t say LeBron is clearly a better passer than James Harden tbh
I forgot about harden lol
Lebrons a better passer then James by like far
Have to disagree here. For me they are in the same tier. I can understand someone saying lebron is a better passer but to say it’s not close is too strong.
that’s preposterous. go watch Harden passing highlights
They need to limit him to under 25 minutes a game too, Embiid as well.
“The Sixers expect LeBron to play basketball.”
How is this news? Might as well’ve said, “The Sixers plan on playing LeBron James… exactly the same as he has played his entire career.”
I’m all for it. As much as I like Maxey, he was overtaxed as a primary ball handler. He can be inefficient and a tough shot taker. His main go to was either a drive by or step back. Maxey should feast off the ball and still get on ball touches when Lebron is off the court. Lebron should help fix the post entry pass struggles we’ve seen for years now. I can already see the give and go plays between Embiid and James
James can easily be a 18-8-8 player and control the tempo of game
AND VJ
He is not Steph Curry with his dribbling skills…See a lot of turnovers
odd example because Steph turns it over a lot himself, gets lazy with his handle, makes questionable passes etc.
Not a chance in hell he’s playing as a guard. Running the point? Sure. But come on now, he’s not chasing around guards and being covered by them on the opposite end.
That’s what Maxey is for, he’ll be the 1 on defense but the 2 on offense
Embiid is going to get a lot of easy shots but also, since there are like 4 20ppg players he doesn’t need to score 30 which means he can spend more effort on defense, no excuses.
Isn’t this the opposite of what he wanted?
It’s going to be funny to watch. Sixers will have explosive transition offensive talent but Joel and LeBron going to phone it in getting back and hope that Maxey and Brown have them.
Stop talking about LeBron everyday. I’m glad the circus left LA
RIP to VJ’s development although I don’t think anyone cares.
LeBron’s camp told shams he is going to be a PG because he thinks it’s a good idea.
Guy is straight lying.
Bron might just fuck around and average like 14/14/6
LeFacilitator
Well yeah. He’s their best playmaker by default
His shots going down but them assists and turnovers about to go up.
42 year old LeBron as your main pg is crazy
Remember when he forced us to get Westbrook because he wanted another PG with him lol
They have three guards and none of them can run an offense loool
I don’t know how this possibly counts as reporting.
One of the best playmakers in the NBA is going to playmake for his new team… Yeah.
Hey guys, I bet Embiid plays center!
He played pg his rookie year
Chalk up another Philly season failure.. gonna be the Philly Globetrotters but they will find out there not playing the Washington Generals 82 games a year
Good luck with that.
Ah yes good ole LeBron ball
42% of the time it works every time.
The real question will be can LeBron stay healthy. He has had a history of groin pulls in the past few years which can nag fit ages
Plot twist, LeBron is playing until he breaks the all time assist record too, and then maybe retiring.
4 of the 5 starters prefer to slash but, all of them have the ability to respectably shoot. I expect a lot of cutting in the half court, running off misses and maybe even off made baskets. Joel will serve as the punisher of half court offense.
LeBron really will help distributing and hopefully we’ll see Maxey, VJ and JB shake loose quicker in games.
Gonna fuck around and avg 15 asts
Ah yes. Letting old man LeBron have high usage.
24% of the time it works every time.
Ball handling and passing is what they needed most, and LeBron is historically very good at that, so this isn’t surprising. The question is how the offense will work in the 20-30 games LeBron doesn’t play.
Sham just parroting what his boss is telling him.
5th prime: LeMagic Jameson
You position is who you guard on defense now. So he’ll play PF/C
His position his LeBron James. That’s his position
He’s gonna play a lot of Point Guard because Maxey isn’t a Point Guard, and he’s gonna play a lot of Center because Embiid will be injured.
LeBenSimmons
Good luck with that, as LeBron forgot how to dribble two or three years ago.
LeSame Shit
He might averaged 15 assists it might get spooky
im scared
Romp had a good breakdown on how Bron’s passing can really unlock this team:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAxwgAbRTQw
He might average 10 or 11 assists per game.
Love me some Romp
Yea of course, but can LeBron do this for 35-40 mins a game all season and into the playoffs? Idk about that, and that team has serious questions at PG otherwise.
He wanted to take a back seat though remember?
lebron running point for embiid, maxey, and brown sounds like an absolute 2k MyTeam fever dream engineered purely to break modern basketball
Bron is gunning for an assist record.
I am shocked
Got like 3-4 primary ball handlers
Point Forward…
I really don’t see what Shams adds to ESPN! He even looks like he know he’s an imposter, just waiting to be found out!
Over/under 57 games that LBJ and Embiid play at the same time within the next 2 years
As they should?
Lebron is just like me forreal. OG bringing the ball up and diming to my young boys 🙌🏾
Jaylen Brown 2 assist per game season incoming
My
No shit
It’s about what position he’s going to be defending. Can Jaylen Brown defend power forwards? Can Embiid defend centers for 30 minutes a game, 60 games
Duh
lol
Who do we think will be the lead scorer and so forth? on any night JB, Maxey or Embiid can drop 30+
Brain says JB will be the go to guy, but Embiid and Maxey gonna get their shots too. LeBron being point forward is definitely the way to go. VJ will get so many open looks on this team
Obviously
So he’ll end up #2 all time in assists 😵💫
Sounds logical. Lebron won’t have to travel as far on the court, can conserve energy. Will be interesting to see how this affects transition defense.
Hes done this his entire career, 23 fucking years, and yet it’s still a story every season, lmao
And look if it’s doesn’t go to plan, it’s a really tradable contract.
Not if Jaylen brown has anything to say about it