The Philadelphia 76ers opened the offseason with a shocking trade on July 1, sending Paul George, two first-round picks (2028, 2031) and two second-round selections (2028, 2030) to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Finals MVP Jaylen Brown. Brown had been rumored in Giannis Antetokounmpo trade packages before the former Milwaukee Bucks star ended up in Miami.
Before July came to a close, the Sixers made waves again, this time landing the biggest free agent of the offseason in LeBron James. The 41-year-old agreed to extremely team-friendly terms with the Sixers, inking a two-year, $8 million deal (he made nearly $53 million last season with the Los Angeles Lakers).
The offseason moves come after the Sixers parted ways with former general manager Daryl Morey after six seasons in May before promoting assistant general manager Jameer Nelson to be the team's executive vice president of basketball operations under new president Mike Gansey.
ESPN's staff of experts is looking back at the offseason and taking an early look at the 2026-27 season for all 30 teams, with 30 pieces -- one for every team -- rolling out each weekday through Friday. We're answering the biggest looming questions, evaluating X factors and much more for all 30 teams.
Let's dive into the Sixers, who are hopeful their offseason splashes catapult them to the top of the East:
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Offseason at a glance
Key additions: F LeBron James, G Jaylen Brown, G Anfernee Simons, F Dean Wade, G Labaron Philon Jr., G Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Key subtractions: F Paul George, C Andre Drummond, G Quentin Grimes, G Kelly Oubre Jr.
No team changed its fortunes from April to July as drastically as the 76ers. Taking advantage of Boston's desire to get out of the Jaylen Brown business enabled it to accomplish so much: getting a motivated All-Star feeling the sting of rejection following a career year, dumping George's contract and putting themselves in position to be attractive to an all-time great in James, who was looking for a new challenge. They also lessened their dependency on Joel Embiid's bothersome health as he will turn 33 during the season.
They filled in the blanks by adding Caldwell-Pope and Wade as plug-and-play wings, changing the complexion of their franchise in several swoops. If nothing else, they won the offseason. -- Vincent Goodwill
Zach Kram's offseason grade: A-
Regardless of Brown's precise value, turning 36-year-old George into a 29-year-old All-NBA wing is a big win for Philadelphia. The forward positions have long been a concern for the 76ers, but they're on much firmer ground now with Brown and Wade, and Brown is specifically a strong fit next to Embiid because of his reliability.
The 76ers' roster isn't perfect -- it lacks some shooting and is still too reliant on Embiid for its size -- but Philadelphia at least has a narrow path to the Finals now, when such a route didn't exist before this summer. -- Kram
What we learned over the past few months
From Ben Golliver's offseason lessons piece: The 76ers aren't Embiid's team anymore.
Philadelphia's new front office executed one of the biggest moves of the summer when it traded George and draft picks to acquire Brown from the Boston Celtics. The move made sense on many levels: Brown is younger, healthier and more productive than George.
However, Brown's arrival introduces some new questions related to the Sixers' franchise center. Brown and Embiid are both high-usage scorers who like to operate in the midrange and get to the free throw line. By comparison, George was a more natural complement to Embiid; he's a better 3-point shooter and proved willing to sacrifice shots during his Philadelphia tenure.
Brown and Embiid could probably strike a "two alphas" balance if they were surrounded by role players, but Philadelphia's loaded backcourt includes All-Star Tyrese Maxey and rising star VJ Edgecombe. There's a lot of scoring talent on hand, and something will have to give.
Embiid has appeared in just 39% of games over the past three seasons, and he missed four of the 76ers' 11 playoff games last season. While Embiid is Philadelphia's oldest player at 32, Brown, Maxey, Edgecombe and summer additions Wade, Simons and Philon are all in their 20s.
Put all those factors together, and Brown seemingly makes more sense for Philadelphia's post-Embiid future than he does as an Embiid sidekick. The next question: When would a transition take place given that Embiid still has three years remaining on his contract? -- Golliver
The big question: Can the 76ers come together to be a contender by the playoffs?
Embiid's health will be monitored, as it has been the past few years. So will James', as he's averaged an admirable 67 games the past three years as he plays well into his 40s. Much regular-season weight will be placed on a new acquisition in Brown, a second-year emerging star in Edgecombe and a franchise mainstay in Maxey.
Will there be enough continuity through the first six months to cash in during the playoffs? Recent history says it takes a couple of years for talent to coalesce, but do the 76ers have that kind of time with James and Embiid? James' personal history says by Year 2, his teams are ready to win titles. It seems, though, that the 76ers are loaded up for this June, not next June. -- Goodwill
Basketball Power Index rank: No. 6
Here are the predicted Net Points per 100 possessions for the 76ers' top seven players for the 2026-27 season:
James has been part of 15 of the 39 teams with the highest combined career usages of their top five players. This includes seasons with Dwayne Wade, Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Carmelo Anthony, Anthony Davis, Ray Allen and Chris Bosh. The average record of those teams was 52-30, which is basically what this team is predicted to do.
For the haters, the worst of those 15 teams was the 33-win Lakers team in 2021-22 with Russ, Melo and AD. The preseason over/under for wins for that team was, per Basketball-Reference, also 52 games. -- Dean Oliver
Read about how Net Points works here.
Biggest X factor this season
Centers Adem Bona and Ariel Hukporti
Embiid has missed more than half of the past three regular seasons, so even if he turns in a relatively healthy season, his backups will still get plenty of work. Bona and Hukporti will therefore be tasked with both keeping the 76ers afloat when Embiid is absent (so the 76ers don't fall behind in a very competitive Eastern Conference playoff race) and helping the 2023 MVP reach the playoffs healthy.
It's an odd thing to say about a team with such star power in the starting lineup, but their ultimate outcome this season could also hinge on two unheralded backup centers. -- Kram
Betting insight from our expert
Bet to make ahead of the season: To reach conference semifinals (-125); to make conference finals (+200)
The 76ers reached the conference semifinals last season after winning their play-in game and then upsetting the No. 2 seed Celtics in the first round. They then proceeded to make the biggest splash in the NBA this offseason, bringing in former Finals MVPs Brown and James to supplement their core of Maxey, Embiid and Edgecombe.
While changes this big could lead to some growing pains, and both former MVPs (James and Embiid) have age and injury concerns, the talent on this team suggests they could contend for the NBA title. Getting essentially even money for the team to just get as far as they made it last season feels like solid value. -- Andre Snellings
Odds by DraftKings at time of publication.
