While in the midst of my daily media consumption, I came across some interesting notes from noted Boston super fan Bill Simmons. Near the end of a rather lengthy post on The Ringer, Simmons cited recent buzz of LeBron coming to the Sixers:

“The Sixers have enough cap space and trade assets to accommodate LeBron and the likes of, say, PAUL GEORGE; Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid are two of the league’s best under-25 blue-chippers (young legs!); Klutch represents LeBron and Simmons (hmmmmm); and NBA insiders have been gossiping about an increasingly cozy Philly–LeBron’s circle connection since November.”

This blurb, in which Simmons argued that Philadelphia could provide LeBron the perfect narrative to end his career, was music to my ears.

“In 2018, LeBron James signed with Philadelphia to build one last mini-dynasty with Embiid and Simmons. He vowed to play seven more years, until he turned 40, and vowed to make it his last stop. Just as important, he wanted to be closer to New York City and to his goal of becoming the first active billionaire athlete, with an eye on building his business empire and eventually owning an NBA franchise.”

Let’s not forget that Bovada listed the Sixers as the 5th most likely destination for the four-time league MVP and three-time NBA Finals MVP to land this offseason.

Ultimately, LeBron may end up signing a multi-year deal with a team he believes has long-term potential. While recent contracts for James and Kevin Durant have amounted to one-year deals with a player option for a second, the optics of team-hopping to chase Michael Jordan’s ghost wouldn’t be in the best interest of LeBron’s image.

Although many in the national media believe James will land in Los Angeles to lead a young Lakers team, it could very well come down to two teams: Houston and Philadelphia.

More after the jump:

Houston, featuring a star-studded roster featuring Chris Paul and James Harden, is quite attractive and could prove to be the only team capable of stopping Golden State – a Paul George return to OKC non-withstanding.

Philly provides a truly unique opportunity, one that LeBron has never had: playing on a team with multiple young, All-Star caliber players and plenty of cap space to bring in another superstar.

Will it happen? I don’t know, but like I said on this morning’s Crossing Broadcast, the Sixers could also be poised to make an offseason run at Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs. Leonard finished third in MVP voting in 2016-17 and has some history with Sixers coach Brett Brown.

https://art19.com/shows/crossing-broadcast/episodes/b53d1917-1cad-448e-84bb-66704b370563

Whether or not LeBron James chooses to take his talents to Broad Street remains to be seen, but it’s awesome to see our young team – in the midst of a playoff push – connected with multiple superstars. Even better is knowing that one of Philadelphia’s toughest critics is already losing sleep over it. Just listen to Simmons lament a potential matchup with his Celtics in the playoffs on his most recent episode of the Bill Simmons Podcast:

https://art19.com/shows/the-bill-simmons-podcast/episodes/19b4d2e7-f657-4d03-9f22-ab904fdd121b

33:30 “I think there’s some really fun playoff possibilities, especially in the East. Like if the Sixers get in, as like, let’s say they’re the 7th seed and Boston’s the 2nd seed, I’m petrified! I don’t like that matchup at all! If Embiid’s going to play, who’s that not a terrible matchup for?”

Just imagine if Fultz can make it back in time to contribute. That fear will turn into sheer panic. Beautiful.