July 28, 2026
Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports
LeBron James and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope were teammates during the Los Angeles Lakers' 2020 championship run.
Over the last few years, I have answered hundreds of questions from hundreds of readers for our weekly Sixers mailbags.
This will be the first time those questions pertain to a team that has LeBron James.
Philadelphia, much like the entire basketball world, is still reeling from the news that James, the NBA's all-time leading scorer, has decided to end his career as a member of the Sixers, trying to deliver a championship to a city starved for one. But, even with a five-headed monster at head coach Nick Nurse's disposal, this is not going to be easy.
The first Sixers mailbag of LeBron James' tenure in Philadelphia:
From @chasedattt: Now that LeBron James is in Philadelphia, what is your biggest basketball concern with the fit? Not age or health, but schematically? And what should the Sixers' best closing lineup be around LeBron, Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid in a playoff series?
I have never been one to worry about the fact that "there is only one ball." The Sixers have many players capable of putting that ball in a basket, and that will always be better than not having four or five high-octane scorers.
The only member of this team I really worry about as far as fit is concerned is Jaylen Brown. Unlike James, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, he has little to no track record being a quality playmaker for others and his value is almost entirely derived from being able to handle a high-usage offensive role. If the Sixers have Maxey, Brown, Embiid and James all on the floor at once, where is Brown standing and what is he doing? If he is not in a featured role – which would, of course, be entirely understandable – what can he do to be an additive offensive player?
But, to me, the far more serious concerns about this team are on the other end of the floor. Which players can Sixers head coach Nick Nurse trust to get stops?
Embiid's rim protection improved considerably throughout last season, but he remains likely to be extremely vulnerable defending in space as his mobility has declined. James is turning 42 years old in December and will need to take loads of defensive plays off; he can ratchet up his intensity for the highest-leverage possessions but will not be a stopper for this team. Maxey has made a leap as a defensive playmaker, but is not someone the Sixers would want defending an opposing star guard. That sets up VJ Edgecombe to be the Sixers' primary defensive options against the Eastern Conference's top guards. When engaged, Brown can defend guards and wings at a high level, but far too often his off-ball defense has lagged behind his on-ball defense.
While Jaylen Brown is largely good as an on-ball defender, he often struggles to remain engaged as an off-ball defender, prone to getting beat on back-cuts: pic.twitter.com/9NoxrP28aY
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) July 4, 2026
This is where Dean Wade will come in handy as a defensive ace off the bench, essentially capable of replacing any single member of the Sixers' projected starting lineup and forming a sensible five-man unit. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has declined over the last two years, but has a long history of being a quality perimeter defender. But then there is Anfernee Simons, whose shooting will be enormously helpful but whose defense will be enormously harmful.
This team's defensive personnel is not horrid, but it is not particularly good. And that is in part because of the unproven tandem of centers slated to back up Embiid.
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From @Tim_Meyer23: How do you think the center rotations will look in an Embiid-less stretch? Assume everyone else is healthy.
The ultimate sign of the lack of local faith in Adem Bona and Ariel Hukporti: two days after the Sixers signed a player with a credible case as the best in the history of basketball, there were more questions sent in for this mailbag about how the Sixers will arrange their backup center rotation than about how James fits on this star-studded roster.
Bona and Hukporti are going to get the first cracks at backing up Embiid regularly, and they probably should.
In two seasons, Bona has been able to prove that when the pieces come together, he impacts the game positively. His shot-blocking is terrific and his motor never stops running. But struggles on the defensive glass, questionable fouls and other unforced errors have made it hard for Bona to fully emerge, despite his tremendous athletic capabilities. His first playoff run was a disaster.
Hukporti, ironically, has similar strengths and weaknesses. He is a bigger and stronger player, which the Sixers surely hope means he has a better chance of stabilizing things on the boards than Bona. Perhaps the Sixers are content to let Bona and Hukporti chase blocks and risk picking up fouls because, between the two of them, the team has 12 fouls to utilize.
Bona is clearly valuable in spurts, but has failed to be consistently helpful to date. Hukporti is even less proven, but his combination of size and athleticism clearly appealed to the Sixers.
What are the Sixers' alternative options at center? They have quite a few small-ball five candidates, and James is absolutely one of them. Among projected rotation players, he might be this team's best defensive rebounder, which will help him ignite what should be a lethal transition offense. James is incredibly strong; he is not a strong rim protector given that has never been his defensive role but he can stonewall bigs in the post. Even Wade, at 6-foot-9 and 228 pounds, can be passable there, too. Both players should be given chances to slide up to the five.
I have been writing for several months that Nurse needs to give Dominick Barlow a real shot to prove himself as an occasional center. By the time the Sixers were battling the New York Knicks in the second round of last year's playoffs, it was clear that Barlow's ability to switch made him a better option than Bona and Andre Drummond. It would be a matchup-dependent arrangement, but Barlow and Jabari Walker both have it in them to give a solid stint at center when needed.
Dominick Barlow gave the Sixers a real jolt as a small-ball five in the second half of their Game 2 loss: pic.twitter.com/dObO1f7KDY
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) May 8, 2026
Nurse would be wise to experiment at backup center more often over the course of the 2026-27 regular season, to ensure his full scope of options in the playoffs is clear.
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From @SixersAndrew: After the addition of LeBron, what do you think Labaron Philon Jr.’s role looks like this season?
Between the Brown trade, Simons signing, James signing and Caldwell-Pope signing, this free-agency period has not been productive for Philon's chances of being a rotation player as a rookie. If Philon is going to contribute as a very slight guard, it would be by flashing his creativity as a pick-and-roll ball-handler and pull-up three-point shooter. On this team, it is unclear how Nurse will be able to fit in any on-ball reps for Philon within a regular rotation.
At the very least, Philon has a chance to push Simons should the veteran struggle early. In the event Maxey suffers an injury, Philon would be a sensible reinforcement off the bench if the Sixers want to ensure no single player has a workload too significant. But it is hard to imagine Philon and Simons playing together all that much; they could be two of the worst defenders in the NBA next season.
So, for now, Philon is probably on the outside looking in. That's okay. Rookies, especially ones drafted in the latter half of the first round, should not be expected to contribute right away – especially when they weigh 176 pounds. There is no rush, nor is there reason to regret the pick.
I have been writing ad nauseam that the Sixers have been too lax in filling their last five roster spots. They need capable players outside of Nurse's regular rotation to account for the attrition that takes place during a season. Philon can be part of that, as will be Caldwell-Pope and Justin Edwards, for example. They are all major upgrades over the players to occupy those spots in recent years.
From top to bottom, the extent to which the quality of this roster has improved is hard to fathom. For now, though, that will put a dent in Philon's chances of an early breakout.
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