The Philadelphia 76ers already made one surprise star addition this summer, so why not a second? On Friday, LeBron James announced his intention not to return to Cleveland or Miami, but instead to "energize a new fan base and start this incredible journey one last time." He'll do so in Philadelphia, where he'll reportedly sign a two-year, $8 million veteran's minimum deal with a second-year player option, and where the 76ers have rocketed from play-in team to championship contender in the span of a single month.
ESPN insiders Zach Kram and Ben Golliver are examining the signing from every angle, grading Philadelphia's latest player acquisition coup and analyzing James' fit with his newest team, and earmarking the top winners and losers from James' self-proclaimed "last decision." Jump to a section: Grading the deal Winners and losers LeBron James signs two-year, $8M deal Grade: A+ Lakers officials engaged in an unusual thought experiment last season. As ESPN's Dave McMenamin reported , "An onlooker was asked to observe [LeBron] James play for a stretch, disregard his name and age and evaluate his play to come up with a salary number that 'anonymous' player would deserve next season." So let's play that game ourselves, using advanced stats to help.
According to the DARKO projection system, here are some star-level forwards whose current per-possession impact is in roughly the same range as James', along with each of their 2026-27 salaries: Two key takeaways stand out from this chart. The first is that, while James is by far the best old player in NBA history, he has still clearly declined as he has aged.
The rough comps here are generally second and third options, rather than the best players on championship-level teams, and that's the role best suited for 41-year-old LeBron, too. The second is that even as a supplementary star rather than a No.
1 option, James will be ludicrously, ridiculously underpaid in Philadelphia. All but one of these forwards will earn at least $40 million next season.
And LeBron will make the veteran's minimum of $3.9 million, which is less than one-tenth the amount that most of the other forwards in his talent range will earn. Philadelphia registers an A-plus grade for that value alone.
James -- who doesn't need the money, given that he was the first active NBA player to become a billionaire in 2022 -- is still close to an All-NBA level, and he'll be only his team's seventh-highest-paid player. How James fits in a new-look, star-studded lineup in Philadelphia, meanwhile, immediately becomes one of the most fascinating questions in the NBA.
On the one hand, James averaged 20.9 points per game last season, tied with his rookie campaign for the lowest of his career. His 27% usage rate was his lowest ever, and his time of possession was by far his lowest in the tracking era (since 2013-14): James handled the ball for 3.8 minutes per game in 2025-26, a 37% drop from his previous low of 5.3 minutes.
He also averaged just 15.5 picks per 100 possessions as the ball handler, a 40% drop from his previous low. Yet on the other hand, James was still productive and efficient by any measure, and he settled much more comfortably into a secondary offensive role -- which he'll presumably occupy once more in Philadelphia -- as the season continued.
His 59% true shooting was right in line with his career average (also 59%) and his mark across eight seasons with the Lakers (60%). And he averaged 7.2 assists per game, generated gobs of free throws and played 1,989 minutes, which was the third most on the Lakers.
Moreover, when he was forced to step back into a primary role when Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves suffered late-season injuries, James was able to summon enough of his old magic to win a playoff round as an underdog against Houston. The Lakers' loss in a sweep against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round showed the limitations of that approach, but now that he's sharing a team with Tyrese Maxey , Jaylen Brown and Joel Embiid , it's unlikely that LeBron will ever be the lone healthy star in Philadelphia.
Notably, those three co-stars all play a different position from James, which makes him an ideal positional fit on his new team. With new 76ers Brown and Dean Wade sharing the floor with him, along with rising sophomore VJ Edgecombe , James will often be able to hide on defense -- though not completely, because of Maxey's defensive limitations -- which is a key way to keep him healthy and rested i