Report: Sixers believe that they would be in "pole position" to sign LeBron James when they land Kawhi Leonard



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The conventional wisdom about LeBron James is that he automatically makes the whole team better than he is doing. His eight appearances in the final NBA suggest that it's an accurate perception.

However, with James who refused his option to play with the Cavaliers on Friday (19459004) see the story ) and enter the free agency, it's worth it to analyze exactly d matches with the Sixers.

Brian Windhorst of ESPN, who has covered James throughout his career, does not think James would be the best match with Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and company.

"I should hear Joel Embiid if I was LeBron James", Windhorst said Friday on the first take. "I do not see the basketball game for LeBron in Philadelphia, you need Joel Embiid to sit at the table with LeBron and say," I'm ready to go around as you listened to Chris Bosh and Kevin Love in to do this work over the past eight years. "[19659002] This would be a radical change to Embiid. Nor does it seem necessary to completely change his game to accommodate James as Windhorst suggests.

James never played with a dominant offensive player like Embiid before. He played with guys like Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Shaquille O Neal at the end of his career, Anderson Varejao and Joel Anthony, none of whom are in the Embiid league with regard to the possibility to score in the post.

Embiid was second in the NBA last season with 9.1 post-up points per game. And his 0.97 points per possession in post-ups were in the 75th percentile for the league. The Sixers' attack often revolved around him for a reason. While James is a player who needs a lot of the ball, he should be more than able to adapt to having a scorer in the low position. In fact, given the talent of a smuggler, you would think that playing with Embiid would improve his game, would not be a reason to eliminate the Sixers as a possible destination.

Embiid made 3.1 three-point shots per game Although he said that outdoor shooting is part of his arsenal, he focuses on being "a beast at the top." within. " He would not have to radically change his way of playing if James came to Philadelphia.

you have the reality that the two young perimeter players that the Sixers have, Markelle Fultz and Ben Simmons, are guys who need the ball and can not shoot, "Windhorst continued." LeBron plays his best with guys who can play For me, even though it's a very attractive concept, I do not think basketball makes sense. "

This point is quite valid: James has always thrived when he was surrounded by three point shooters like Love and Kyle.Korver: that's one of the reasons why a Three-digit guy like Mik al Bridges was an attractive player in the project.Simmons's utilization rate of 23.5% last season would likely fall if he was playing with James, and the development of his jumpers and of Fultz would be crucial.

Still, if it's the best for the team, you might think James could be ready to play the ball over. He would not drop offensive weapons like Simmons and Embiid

"I think LeBron has already decided his choices here," said Windhorst, "because I've talked to several teams who have requested meetings for LeBron, including some teams that I think have some pretty creative ideas, and they've been told, "No." So I think LeBron is probably very focused on Los Angeles or Cleveland, but I think Philadelphia, if Joel Embiid wanted to sit down, I think LeBron would be ready to listen. "

The Sixers are certainly not the perfect choice for James, there are bends to be made – remember the hardships of Miami Heat 2010-11, when James teamed up with Bosh and Dwayne Wade?" as talented as James should have no problem with Simmons and Embiid Suggesting Embiid would need to stand in the corner to make things work is absurd

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