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What Should Sixers Fans Realistically Expect From LeBron James this Season?
By Sean Barnard
Published:
It still does not feel completely real that LeBron James is going to be suiting up for the Philadelphia 76ers this season.
The 22-time All-Star, four-time NBA champion, four-time MVP, and greatest player of all time will write the final chapter of his storied career in the City of Brotherly Love. He’s joining a team that has a legitimate case for the most talent of any ever constructed, and the clearest contender of this era of Sixers baseball. But, unlike what has been the case through the bulk of the Future Hall of Famer’s career, this is not a team built around him. James is not the epicenter of the franchise, but a final piece set to help the organization reach their championship goals.
No one is more aware of this than James himself. The 41-year-old opened up on his most recent Mind The Game Podcast, speaking about what drove him to make the decision to come to Philadelphia. He dove individually into each key name- Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, V.J. Edgecombe, Nick Nurse, and more. But the takeaway is clear: the biggest factor that motivated him is that joining the 76ers is James’ best chance at adding a fifth (and maybe sixth) championship ring to his finger:
With that said, James is still set to be a major factor on this Sixers team. While he is not the clearcut best player in the NBA the way that was true for a good portion of his career, James is still very comfortably a top 20 player in the league. He is coming off his 23rd NBA season, in which he posted averages of 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, and 6.1 rebounds per game, leading the Lakers to the fourth seed in the Western Conference with a 53-29 record. James comfortably looked like the best player on the floor in the opening round six-game series victory over the Houston Rockets. This is all while Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves dealt with injury issues throughout the season, forcing the franchise load on his shoulders at a rate he may not have been fully eager to take on.
Fair Expectations for LeBron James on the Sixers
The biggest question surrounding the outlook for the Sixers is how all these pieces will fit together. Skeptics will point to the usage rates and counting stats for each of the notable stars, and it is fair to note that it will take sacrifice from each.
As James has progressed throughout his career, he has scaled back his score-first nature and grown as a passer in a major way. He is one of just seven players in NBA history to have led the league in both scoring and assists over a season. James has never averaged fewer than 20 points per game across a season, with last year’s 20.9 points per game matching his rookie year for his career low. But this Lakers chapter has also contributed to his growth as a playmaker. The four-time Finals MVP led the NBA with 10.2 assists per game during his second season with the franchise, in 2019-20, and he has averaged 7.9 assists per game across his eight seasons in Los Angeles.
This is especially noteworthy in the context of this Sixers team. Last year, Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with 6.6 assists per game. The year before it was also Maxey with 6.1 assists per game. Partially due to Maxey’s evolution as a basketball player, and partially due to the requirements of the roster around him, Maxey has seen his role change on just about a year-by-year basis. The two-time All-Star is capable as a playmaker, but he has never fully fit the mold of a pure point guard. Maxey is a score-first player, which is not a critique in any way. Having a more talented playmaker to line up next to him, like James, should unlock him in a way that could still being out there best version of himself as a basketball player.
Rebounding is another fair concern with this Sixers’ team. Philadelphia finished last year ranked 17th in rebounds per game and 25th in rebounding percentage. As Embiid’s physical concerns have grown, rebounding and defense is where this is especially evident. The former MVP finished last year averaging a career-low 7.7 rebounds per game, and tallied just 8.2 boards per game in 2024-25. Excluding Andre Drummond, who will be suiting up for the New York Knicks this season, Edgecombe was next on the team in rebounding production last year with 5.6 rebounds per game.
While James is not near the peak of a rebounder he once was, he pulled in 6.1 rebounds per game last year and averaged 7.5 per game across his career. His production has felt a bit more tied to the scheme and roster around him, with James being just one year removed from pulling in 7.8 rebounds per game. But even this version of James as a rebounder is an improvement compared to some of the other front court pairings that Embiid has played with. Paul George pulled in 5.3 rebounds in both seasons in Philadelphia. Tobias Harris tallied 7.9 rebounds per game in the half season after he was traded to the Sixers, but never recorded more than 6.9 over a full season, including as few as 5.7 per game.
The scoring hierarchy will likely be a bit more fluid in where James fits in. One of the biggest factors in this is the balance that the Sixers will be attempting to strike in giving James and Embiid enough rest to stay healthy for the season-long marathon, while suiting up enough to learn to play together. By his own admission, James no longer wants to be the leading scorer in the flow of offense. There will be some growing pains as the star-studded group learns how to play together, and Nick Nurse is sure to catch plenty of national scrutiny as this occurs. But James has shown he can and will take over in the drivers’ seat of the offense when the team needs, even if it is not a sustainable blueprint for a full 82-game season.
To paint a conservative estimate, my predicted stat line for James in his first year in Philadelphia is something along the lines of 18.4 points, 9.8 assists, and 8.1 rebounds per game. This would be the lowest scoring total of his career by a comfortable margin, but there is going to need to be some level of give in the scoring averages for each Sixers’ player. His rebounding output is more dependent on his physical ability, but James has won the battle with Father Time to this point and still works harder than the vast majority of the league on his body. His assist output is what I am most bullish on, and I think there is a real chance he wins the assist title for the second time in his career.
Biggest Impact James Will Make
Beyond just the raw stats, it is everything else that comes with James that makes him so valuable to a franchise. There have been plenty of fair critiques about the culture of the organization dating back years, with the headline stars not necessarily setting the championship standard that it takes to reach the pinnacle of the NBA. But James’ arrival in Philadelphia creates a level of seriousness and expectation that is tough to compare to anything else in spirit. The Sixers will see the most primetime games as is legally allowed, ticket prices reflect the attention on them, and this team will be the headline story in national talk shows all year.
Something James doesn’t get enough credit for is how he has overcome this type of pressure in his career. He was coined “The Chosen One” and compared to Michael Jordan before he even graduated high school. Somehow, he has lived up to these unfair expectations and etched his name next to a number of NBA records that will never be touched. Team success is a key part of this, with James having been to the NBA Finals 10 times and winning the series on four occasions. He knows exactly what it takes to build from the ground up and the steps it is essential not to skip to reach the team’s desired heights.
Whether you want to address it head on or not, talent has not been the driving reason why the Sixers have continually plateaued before getting past the second round of the postseason. There are a few different iterations of this roster that you can make a legitimate argument were good enough to win a championship. But they have failed to deliver in the biggest of moments and fallen short in a variety of disastrous ways.
The biggest impact that James will make on this Sixers franchise, in the short-term and moving forward, is showing what it takes to win. He will play a major role in the on-court effort this year, but his legacy may well be the new standard that is set moving forward.
Sean Barnard has covered the Philadelphia 76ers and general Philly Sports for over six years in a variety of roles and for multiple outlets. Currently works as a Content Writer for DraftKings Network, Sixers/NBA Insider for Philadelphia's Fox Sports the Gambler, and co-host of Sixers & Phillies Digest on Youtube. Forever Trusting the Process.