This offseason, the Philadelphia 76ers have the opportunity to create one of the most formidable teams in the NBA. In fact, they can put together the league\u2019s next superteam. All they need is a little bit of luck.<\/p>\n
The Sixers are projected to have $58.3 million in practical cap space<\/a> and a maximum of $76.8 million. With that much cap space, the Sixers can sign the two players that teams hope will reach free agency this offseason: LeBron James<\/a> and Paul George<\/a>.<\/p>\n James will be entering his 22nd NBA season in 2024-25 and there\u2019s no telling how long he\u2019ll keep playing. However, it isn\u2019t out of the realm of possibility that he dominates for at least three more seasons. With that, the Sixers should be comfortable offering James a maximum or near-max contract when he becomes a free agent.<\/p>\n George will be entering his 15th NBA season and he\u2019s shown no signs of slowing down. One of the best two-way players in the game, the Sixers have already been linked to<\/a> the nine-time All-Star. Philadelphia should be comfortable signing him to a near-max contract.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, there\u2019s already indication the Lakers have entertained a future<\/a> without James. The Clippers are believed to be unwilling<\/a> to meet George\u2019s salary demands, per The Philadelphia Inquirer\u2019s Keith Pompey.<\/p>\n Business aside, James and George have been frustrated by their teams this season. Frankly, James\u2019 nerves have been getting worked<\/a> by the Lakers every season since the 2020 NBA Finals. Neither the Lakers nor the Clippers have met their expectations these last four seasons.<\/p>\n Of course, even a Sixers superteam with James and George will face adversity. However, they\u2019re also sure to have fewer pitfalls and thus fewer disappointments.<\/p>\n James will have at least<\/em> one more All-Star than he\u2019s had at any point these past six seasons. To that point, if the Lakers could add George to the roster right now, they would.<\/p>\n George will be part of a more fitting constellation. The Clippers have one too many ball-handlers, forcing Russell Westbrook<\/a> to come off the bench and diminishing his potential impact. The Sixers will have far less of an issue starting Tyrese Maxey<\/a> alongside their new Big Three because Maxey is the only lead guard.<\/p>\n The trio of James, George, and Joel Embiid<\/a> may all take slight pay cuts to play together. Furthermore, Maxey will be a restricted free agent. If he signs after James and George, the Sixers can retain him.<\/p>\n To that point, the salary cap is projected to be $141 million next season. As a result, Philadelphia should be able to sign James to a contract worth nearly $45 million annually. This becomes easier if Embiid takes a $5 million annual pay cut to be paid $46 million. George should be able to sign for $43 million annually.<\/p>\n This also allows them to keep Paul Reed<\/a>, who\u2019s owed $7.7 million next season<\/a>. Due to his age, he\u2019s less likely to take a pay cut to remain with the Sixers. Regardless, he\u2019s already under contract on a bargain deal.<\/p>\n It\u2019ll have to be proven on the court, but that five-man unit of James, Embiid, George, Maxey, and Reed has the potential to be the best in the NBA. George and Embiid would consistently excel at both ends. Maxey and James are shot-creators and playmakers who can put up 25-and-5 nightly. Reed\u2019s a jack-of-all-trades and his inside-outside scoring potential could make him an ideal auxiliary piece.<\/p>\n Using minimum contracts to build the remainder of the rotation could prove difficult. However, several intriguing free agent options will be available.<\/p>\n Bol Bol<\/a>, now in his fifth season, has been playing well with the Phoenix Suns. However, Bol could leave the Suns for the Sixers if he believes he\u2019d have a larger role. That said, Bol could feasibly start over Reed with his outside shooting.<\/p>\n Lonnie Walker IV<\/a> and Cam Reddish<\/a> could be shortlisted for wing depth. Both have experience playing alongside James, with Walker flashing offensively and Reddish shining defensively. Veterans Kris Dunn<\/a>, Taurean Prince<\/a>, and Andre Drummond<\/a> are among their better options for minimum contract signings.<\/p>\n G Tyrese Maxey, Kris Dunn<\/p>\n G Paul George, Lonnie Walker IV<\/p>\n F LeBron James, Taurean Prince<\/p>\n F Bol Bol, Paul Reed<\/p>\n C Joel Embiid, Andre Drummond<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This offseason, the Philadelphia 76ers have the opportunity to create one of the most formidable teams in the NBA. In fact, they can put together the league\u2019s next superteam. All they need is a little bit of luck. How the Sixers Can Create the NBA\u2019s Next Superteam Money Talks The Sixers are projected to have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":71038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1608,27,26,62],"tags":[267,38,297,4557,50,2478],"class_list":["post-71035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-76ers","category-basketball","category-clippers","category-lakers","category-nba","tag-joel-embiid","tag-lebron-james","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-nba-offseason","tag-paul-george","tag-tyrese-maxey"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Motivation Meets Opportunity<\/h3>\n
Getting the Crew Together<\/h3>\n
Building Around the Core<\/h3>\n
Sixers Potential 2024-25 Depth Chart<\/h4>\n