Thirty-six All-Star honors. Twenty-nine All-NBA teams. Five NBA Most Valuable Player awards. Five NBA championships. Five Finals MVP awards.
Those are the combined accolades for four of the five members of the 76ers’ transformed starting lineup: the newly signed LeBron James, the recently acquired Jaylen Brown, and returnees Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid. And the other starter is VJ Edgecombe, who last season finished third on an excellent Rookie of the Year ballot and is widely viewed as capable of morphing into an All-Star and perhaps more.
It is an eye-popping look at the NBA’s newest on-paper super team, especially given the muted expectations entering the Sixers’ offseason.
But how will those decorated players all fit on the court, and with personalities all used to being the bona fide No. 1 option?
For all of those stars, it will be a test in sacrifice and adaptability and chemistry-building. It also is a challenge for coach Nick Nurse to create schemes that accentuate strengths individually and collectively.
This already was a complicated task last season. The Sixers leaned into the style of their electric young guards when Embiid was sidelined, but drifted back to playing through the big man when he was available, including in their rally from down 3-1 to beat the Boston Celtics in the playoffs’ first round. Yet high pace can still fuel these retooled Sixers, given the only player who scored more fast-break points per game than the certified speedster Maxey (5.7) was James, even in his age-41 season.
James also chose the Sixers because of the star power already in place, suggesting he understands the more complementary role he will occupy after what he called his final playing-destination decision.
He remains an elite offensive connector with off-the-charts basketball IQ. His championship habits — as evidenced by his 5 a.m. workout videos that have recently resurfaced, along with photos in the gym with Maxey that have circulated on social media in recent days — will be invaluable to a franchise that has not advanced past the playoffs’ second round since 2001.
James already has experience creating a super team with the Miami Heat, starring alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and winning two titles. But perhaps the best preparation for James’ role in Philly was last season with the Los Angeles Lakers, when he was the third option behind in-their-prime stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
The Sixers, meanwhile, have already known for almost a month that they were adding Brown — an All-NBA wing who finished sixth in MVP voting last season — to the Maxey-Embiid-Edgecombe core.
Brown is coming off a season he defined as his “favorite,” because he was the top offensive weapon and helped written-off teammates overachieve expectations during a regular season mostly played without fellow star Jayson Tatum. Brown offers a blend of athleticism and strength — yes, including using that off arm — to separate from defenders and get his own shot.
But how will Brown shift back into a costar role? Nurse reminded during Las Vegas Summer League that the Sixers were already attempting to leverage a “1-3-5” positional trio with Maxey at guard, Paul George on the wing, and Embiid at center. But it never consistently materialized because those three players logged only 36 regular-season games together in two seasons.
“It’ll be a big part of our thought process on the offensive end right now,” Nurse said of the Brown fit. “And then it will take some polishing and massaging.”
Though James and Embiid are expected to enter the upcoming season healthier than in recent years, it is reasonable to expect they will still miss games and limit minutes in order to gear up for the playoffs. That approach would make the younger and more durable Maxey and Brown the most consistent primary scoring options.
Maxey elevated himself to All-NBA status for the first time last season, while further cementing himself as the Sixers’ unquestioned tone-setter and leader. The 25-year-old also led the league in minutes per game (38), and needed to carry an unfair offensive load while Embiid and/or George were sidelined.
The Knicks’ trapping defense stifled Maxey during their second-round playoff sweep, when he averaged only 18.3 points and shot 3-of-19 from three-point range while still nursing an injured pinkie finger. He called those four games “definitely one of the hardest [playoff] series I’ve played in, just for myself” and vowed to learn and improve during the offseason.
Now defenses won’t be able to put the bulk of their attention on Maxey. James’ playmaking — plus Edgecombe’s progress as a lead ballhandler — also should allow Maxey to regularly slide off the ball. Nurse said earlier this month that he wants Maxey to continue developing his midrange scoring to complement his explosive drives to the rim and deep three-pointers.
For Embiid, the arrival of James and Brown should ease the pressure of the Sixers’ entire universe — on and off the court — revolving around the 2023 MVP.
Though the mid-post still is an area of the court where Embiid can operate in the offensive flow, he may need to fight the muscle memory to create with the ball in his hands at all times. Perhaps he can lean into his 2024 Olympics experience, where he deferred and still found his moment to dominate in a comeback win against Serbia on a superstar-filled roster that also included James. Embiid regaining his three-point shooting prowess — he made 32.2% in 57 games the past two seasons, after connecting on 38.8% in 2023-24 — would be a big boost.
A cynic could say this roster revamp could stunt the development of Edgecombe. Though the second-year guard might not have as many plays run for him, Edgecombe’s athleticism can still be fully unleashed in the open court, including coast-to-coast opportunities.
“Instead of two of those a game,” Nurse said of Edgecombe in Las Vegas, “I’d like to see 10. Or at least try. I just think there’s a little bit more pace he can add to his game offensively.”
And if anyone is worried Edgecombe might be perturbed about James’ signing, consider this: Edgecombe grew up watching James’ Heat teams as a kid in the Bahamas. He did a jersey swap with James the first time they matched up against each other in December. And he posted a photo of himself mimicking James’ “Smiling through it all! Can’t believe this is my life” meme upon learning they would be teammates.
It is reasonable to have concerns about the Sixers’ defense, given James and Embiid have taken clear steps back on that end of the floor. The Knicks deliberately put Embiid in pick-and-rolls during the playoffs, and he is not the rim protector he once was because he limits jumping in an effort to protect his surgically repaired left knee.
Further down the depth chart, newcomer Dean Wade will now shift from projected starting forward to a key bench contributor. There are situations when his perimeter defense will be enticing in closing lineups, and could create fascinating decisions for Nurse when the roster is fully healthy. It also will be interesting to monitor how the coach staggers his stars with those reserves, which also include Anfernee Simons, Labaron Philon Jr., Dominick Barlow, Justin Edwards, and Adem Bona (or Ariel Hukporti).
How long will this all take to figure out? Remember this: James did not win a title until his second season with Miami, in his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and with the Lakers.
So expect transferring the NBA’s newest on-paper super team to an actual basketball fit to be … wait for it … a process.
