Леброн Жэймс Филадельфи 76-д нэгдлээ

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Today, Manu Ginóbili turns 49 years old. He’s one of my favorite players of all time and could have been a superstar, but decided to sacrifice for the greater good of the Spurs. He has some of the most spectacular plays you’ll ever see. Let’s all watch his highlights and wish Manu a happy 49th.

Decision Made

Where we stand after LeBron chose the 76ers

I’ll fully admit I never really thought the Philadelphia 76ers would be the team LeBron James chose. And yet, on Friday, we had LeBron announce that he’ll join the Sixers for his 24th and possibly 25th seasons.He’s signed a two-year deal for just $8 million total, with the second year as a player option.

The 41-year-old is joining Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe and company to try to bring the 76ers their first championship since 1983.They haven’t been past the second round of the playoffs since 2001,when Allen Iverson led them to the NBA Finals. LeBron wants to help change all of that. He passed on joining Golden State, Denver and Minnesota and chose not to go back to Cleveland or Miami. And we were allpretty much in the darkuntil Friday.

Let’s go over everything we can with the decision fallout, now that LeBron is headed for Cheesesteak City.

What did James have to say about this?He put up a four-post thread on social mediaabout the decision. These were the main takeaways:

• When last season ended, he thought he would retire.
• He really enjoyed his time figuring out the next step.
• This is his last decision. And it’s clearly not about money.
• He believes he can help Philly win a title, and he wants to compete for one more.
• He still loves Miami and Cleveland.

When do we think this whole thing was decided?This is the $4 million to $8 million question. This decision was announced July 24. Bob Myersmade his Sixers pitchto Rich Paul on the “Game Over” podcast July 8. But did a clue possibly exist back on July 3, when Paul and Max Kellerman went over LeBron’s options on that infamous whiteboard?Apparently, a star next to Maxey’s name could have been a hint:

Nobody else had a star or a marker next to their name. Of course, it doesn’t actually matter if it was decided back then. It was announced well after the World Cup was over, and most importantly, it gave us extra weeks of content.

How does LeBron fit into the roster?The 76ers desperately need a power forward who can playmake. Guess what? LeBron is exactly that. Defensively, things could get a little rough in their starting lineup, outside of Brown and Edgecombe. Maxey isn’t a good defender, and Embiid is basically a statue in drop coverage on defense. LeBron’s defense has been selective as he’s gotten older. But that’s a bit of nitpicking. He can move the ball exactly how the Sixers need him to and might even be the third or fourth scoring option at times.

What else do the 76ers need?More outside shooting and big man depth. Adem Bona and Ariel Hukporti are their backup big men. They might be OK in spots, but with Embiid on the roster, you need someone who can play heavy minutes.They’re going to sign Kentavious Caldwell-Popewhen he clears waivers after his buyout from Memphis. But a lot of their shooters on the roster are streaky rather than reliable.

Are the 76ers legitimate contenders?Yes, they are. I wouldn’t put them above the defending champion New York Knicks, but the Sixers seem to have the potential to win a title. Of course, it involves the phrase “if Embiid can stay healthy…”, and that historically doesn’t end well. But this team is legitimate.

Now that they missed out on LeBron, what’s next for:

• Cleveland:The Cavs are signing Mario Hezonjain his return to the NBA. They have to finally re-sign James Harden and stay below the second apron while doing so.
• Golden State:They must re-sign Draymond Green and have a couple of open roster spots.
• Miami:The Heat need a playmaker, and they need to bring in more shooting.
• Denver:The Nuggets are matching the two-year, $12 million offer sheet to Spencer Jones, which could cost them over $30 million in luxury taxes. Peyton Watson is still a restricted free agent too.
• Minnesota:The Wolves need big-man depth, but their roster is pretty full.

Now that we have LeBron with a team for Year 24, we’ll figure out the hierarchy in the East. Speaking of 24, we’ll do that below The Last 24.Also, check out my rankings of his four big career decisions!

The Last 24

📊What’re the odds?With LeBron in Philadelphia, the contender odds have changed.The Sixers are now first in the East.

📈Power Rankings!Law Murray had instant rankings post-decision.Philly is up to fifth, behind Cleveland.

🤔 What’s next?The Warriors missed out on LeBron.Steph Curry talked to Marcus Thompson II about that and more.

📆 Schedule release.Despite worries about a LeBron decision delay,it should show up right on time.

🤝 Trade deadline.Napheesa Collier and Kelsey Plum on the move by August 2?Full WNBA breakdown.

🗣️ Must communicate.WNBA commissioner admits the league needs to be better at communicating with players.Yeah, no (bleep).

East Tiers

With LeBron in Philly, let’s make an East hierarchy

As stated above, the Sixers are definitely in contender status in the East. You know … if healthy. In late July, everybody is pretty much healthy, as far as we know, so let’s judge things based on that. The East actually has a surprising amount of depth and quality right now. (Is the East back?Fred Katz thinks so.)

Here are The Bounce’s Eastern Conference Tiers, as of today. We’ll throw some explanations below the six tiers.

The Knicks may have lost Mitchell Robinson, but they replaced him with Andre Drummond. That’s pretty good. And this Sixers team has so much talent and one of the best starting fives in the NBA. Here are some other thoughts:

• If you could show me that Tyrese Haliburton will be back to his old ways post-Achilles injury, then I’ll definitely throw thePacersin Tier 1.
• DetroitandCleveland haven’t had good summers, but they’re still regular-season good.
• TorontoandMiamican and probably will move up. Miami just needs to add perimeter help, and the Raptors actually need to complete the Kawhi Leonard trade.
• Bostonfizzled out in the playoffs and downgraded.Atlantaupgraded but still doesn’t have a No. 1. And Sean Sweeney could be the cure-all inOrlando.
  
• I need to seeWashingtonin action before I truly believe.Charlottedid what’s best down the road, but we still have right now. AndChicagolooks like it could be really fun.

Tradeback Tuesday

When the Nets were desperate for KG and Pierce

Every Tuesday during the summer, we’re going to look back on a famous trade in NBA history to examine the full fallout. Last week,we did the Rudy Gobert trade to Minnesota. This week, we’re headed back to 2013, when the Brooklyn Nets were eager to make a splash in their new home.After a 49-win season in 2012-13, the Nets decided to make one of the most bewildering trades in NBA history.

At the request of billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov, they traded Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries, Keith Bogans, MarShon Brooks and Kris Joseph along with three first-round picks and the most devastating pick swap ever for a 37-year-old Kevin Garnett, 36-year-old Paul Pierce, 36-year old Jason Terry, DJ White and a second-round pick. It had massive ramifications on the future of the Celtics, landing them both Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum down the road.

Some extra notes aboutwhat rolled out from this trade on the Nets’ side:

• The Nets moved KG for Thaddeus Young and eventually flipped him in the deal for Caris LeVert’s draft rights in 2016, along with Kessler Edwards. LeVert was part of the James Harden trade package in 2021. Vezenkov was also part of that trade.
• The Nets won the 2017 draft lottery but owed the Celtics a pick swap. They moved from first to 27th, drafted Kyle Kuzma and flipped him with Brook Lopez to the Lakers for D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov.
• Russell was eventually part of the Kevin Durant trade in the 2019 sign-and-trade.

And let’s do the extra notes onwhat rolled out on the Celtics’ side:

• Keith Bogans was flipped with two protected second-round picks that never conveyed to Cleveland for Dwight Powell, Erik Murphy, Malcolm Thomas, John Lucas III and two second-round picks (Abdel Nader and Kadeem Allen). Powell was eventually sent to Dallas with Rajon Rondo for Jae Crowder, other players and a draft pick that ended up being Guerschon Yabusele.
• The Celtics traded the 2018 first-round pick with Isaiah Thomas, Crowder, Ante Zizic and a 2020 second to Cleveland for Kyrie Irving in 2017.
• Roughly two years after trading for Kyrie, the All-Star point guard became a free agent. And he signed with … you guessed it … Frank Stallone the Nets.
• The 2019 pick the Celtics acquired in the 2017 trade (landed them Jayson Tatum at No. 3) was Romeo Langford (14th pick in 2019). Langford was eventually moved in the deal that landed Derrick White in Boston.
• Obviously, Brown was moved this summer for Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks.

So much happened as a result of this trade,not just in the immediate but in the future dealings and drama for both organizations. It forced the Nets to do a full reset after mismanaging their opportunity. They actually won fewer games (44) in the season after this trade (but did beat Toronto in seven games in the first round of the playoffs). Pierce would leave that summer, the Nets won 38 games the next season, and Garnett was gone in early 2015. All of those assets for next to nothing of accomplishment.

The Celtics had one down year (25 wins in 2013-14) and then have made the playoffs ever since. The 2016 first got them Brown. The 2017 lottery landed them the first pick, which they flipped to Philadelphia for the third pick and a future first. They grabbed Tatum third overall. A trade in 2013 set them up for a title in 2024 and incredible drama this summer. The NBA is the best.

Related to just about everything in this newsletter:The biggest transactions in Sixers history, with this month’ssecondbiggest involving Boston.

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