Transcript
Speaker: Welcome back to an emergency episode of Who's Got the Ball. Guys, we have to do it. We just have to. LeBron James is a Philadelphia 76er. And for any NBA podcast out there, they're going to have to be talking about this, but especially for us as two of our three members of the team are Sixers fans, myself and Michael. Michael, you were over flying to the US. You just landed and your phone exploded with notifications. So...
Speaker: Tell us how you felt when you found out and also um appreciate you coming on considering you're traveling at the moment and and this is first thing in the morning for you. No, ah it is my pleasure to hop on today and talk about LeBron Ramon James coming to the Philadelphia 76ers. Let me tell you that.
Speaker: OK, I don't know if we remember when we were talking about the JB trade. I was actually on the phone with my girlfriend at the time and I was driving home and I actually had to pull over because I started screaming because I was so shocked at that trade.
Speaker: Arriving... into jfk and then my phone having 13 notifications with everybody i know texting me saying lebron james just hit the 76ers is top 10 moments in my entire life so far i must say it's just a wonderful feeling so now i have to go to a philadelphia 76ers game over the next two years we gotta that's gotta happen but yeah I think, honestly, every 76ers fan is in agreement like in agreement with how this turned out.
Speaker: We're all shocked. I don't think there was one Philly fan who really, really believed that, like, oh, yeah, LeBron's coming over to the Sixers. Like, we understood we had the best roster out of all of the other options.
Speaker: But I just didn't think he was going to go to the city of brotherly love, you know? $4 million, A year? It's just absolutely insane.
Speaker: You can see why the other the other three teams that were in the the running for it, you can see why they were all so desperate for it. The Heat were leaking live streams and Steve Kerr was trolling trolling fans on the road when he was being interviewed.
Speaker: It's just... we'll We'll get more into the weeds of what the roster looks like in a minute, but I just wanted to give my just framework reaction for how it felt. What about you, Jim? Well, I was completely thrown off because I was about to start my workout in the gym and I was like waiting for this machine, the first thing I wanted to use.
Speaker: And there was some guy, he was gone to the bathroom, like, I don't know what, for how long. And he left his towel on it. So I was like, man, I can't take this. I was like, this is so annoying. was like, I'll sit down over here for a minute. Went on and bang, athletic notification as I sat down. And that workout did not start for like 20 more minutes. The amount of texts I had to fire off. People who were texting me, like, in so many different groups. Had to share it and over on the socials, our reactions as well. But...
Speaker: Man, I can't believe it. Like you said, I didn't think it would happen. and Even when he like dropped the trust the process line like last week, I was like, this guy is just tying with everybody and in any way possible. and I just didn't think that he would...
Speaker: end up here because of how difficult it is to win over the fan base and the fact that he was so close to coming over the last cycle before he went to the Lakers and and never worked out. and I just thought that was it and the chance was done. Like I saw this account on Twitter was like, I'm not tweeting until LeBron signs for the Sixers. And this was in like 2018.
Speaker: And he was like, oh, never tweeting again. So when he joined the Lakers and then today the account came back online because he just joined with just crazy work like eight years later. and But yeah, two years, eight million, considering he made nearly 53 million last year is absolutely insane. The price that you get somebody like him at. So he he was actually honest about the fact that he wasn't going for money. And, you know, he's put out his message. He said he considered finishing up last season after the last game he thought he might not play again and now he's coming to to philly and he they dropped that promotional video of him like across his career such a good song choice as well using meek mill and dreams and nightmares and then it cuts right as um the line is like you thought i was finished and then the sixers logo comes up that's just sick so yeah i can't wait for the season ahead but
Speaker: I just can't believe like somebody with that many accolades, we know like he's between him and Jordan for the greatest of all time, whatever way you lean, but like 21 time all NBA, four time MVP, four times final MVP and NBA's all time leading scorer.
Speaker: Just absolutely insane to get him no matter what age he's at. And now this lineup, as you alluded to, we'll get into that. It looks like it makes so much sense now. And it's what we needed. Someone in his position is kind of what the team was already lacking a little bit. And now gives us a little bit more versatility on that starting lineup, um even if there are some injuries throughout the season.
Speaker: Yeah, I think our lineup looks amazing. The only thing i would love to have is another backup big. But honestly, I'm fine with Ariel Huckporty and Adam Bona. You just hope that Adam Bona gets a little bit more basketball IQ over the offseason.
Speaker: But he's super athletic. You know, he has his moments, especially in in last season. There were moments where you and I were pulling out our hair, and then there were moments where he has four blocks in the fourth quarter and ices the game for us. So I think...
Speaker: This team, with how young it is, Dominic Barlow, you hope for him to learn something from LeBron. He had a lot of promising flashes last year. And adding the world's most experienced basketball player to the team just cannot be a bad option.
Speaker: yeah i think I think a huge thing and a huge reason why LeBron came is you think about his time with the Cavs the first time. and And the reason why he left was they weren't doing enough for him.
Speaker: If you look at the four teams, the team that was doing the most to put the best roster around LeBron was the Sixers. The Warriors couldn't get that trade done with AD, and it seemed like they just gave up.
Speaker: Because LeBron wasn't going to join them if Jimmy Butler is still nursing that that ah ACL injury from last year. the Minnesota Timberwolves don't have a center.
Speaker: Like, we're we're they have Rudy Gobert, but they're playing Rocco Zagarski 26 minutes in the Summer League, and they don't have any other backup center. So we'd probably end up seeing 41, 42-year-old LeBron playing power forward center on that team.
Speaker: That's not where he wants to play. um And then, the wait, I mentioned the Warriors, I mentioned the Timberwolves. Yeah, so you've got the Heat. which needs shooting desperately and has not picked up one shooter all offseason.
Speaker: Why am I looking at photos of Davion Mitchell in the Swiss Alps wearing his jersey? get somebody Somebody get a three-point shooter on the team. If you wanted LeBron, who's he passing to? Yeah. like The Sixers did such a good job.
Speaker: They've had those links. I think Gant had... Didn't he play high school with LeBron? Am I crazy? Gansey and LeBron played um like Ohio basketball together at high school level. That was one of the things that Rich Paul said on his like teaser podcast when he had all the names on the whiteboard. And everyone was like, yeah, yeah, come on, bro. You're just stirring up a storm here. But like seriously, it seems like Gansey actually does have a very good relationship with LeBron.
Speaker: and And the last team as well. I completely skipped over them. The Cavs. You have done nothing all season. You have not made any good moves all season. You lost Dean Wade to the Sixers.
Speaker: Like, was the plan to roll out Harden, Mitchell and LeBron? ah next to Ed Mowgli and Jarrett. Couldn't work, like. how How would LeBron play with Hayden and Donovan Mitchell? I think, like, seeing the lack of movement from the other teams that, like, maybe they didn't fully believe that he would, like, go for the the real minimum and they didn't want to, you know, kind of tie up their future in that.
Speaker: That's fine. We'll take it. Last thing I want to mention. the Celtics, you better hope Hugo Gonzalez is that guy, okay?
Speaker: Because there's no way LeBron comes to the Sixers if Jalen Brown is not a Sixer, which means that your whole, not only did you trade in the division, you traded him to your rival. You were like, oh yeah.
Speaker: He's not going to do a and anything over there. And then LeBron joins him. It's all your fault. you I better see 20 points per game from Baylor Shireman and Hugo Gonzalez next year. Actually, it is... Brad Stevens might have Danny Ainge-ed himself into mediocrity as the Celtics. Now, Jason Tatum is still a great player, and Joe Mazzula is still a great coach, but...
Speaker: but It's nasty what they've done. You could have right now, as you said, like you could have given up around for Giannis and you might have had to give it up Shireman or Gonzalez. And now your lineup probably could have been LeBron. like LeBron could have went there if you had Giannis and Tatum.
Speaker: So you you could have that lineup where it's like Derek White, Pritchard, LeBron, Tatum and Giannis. And instead... you're looking at PG starting for you. You don't have the honest, no LeBron in any sight and you can get what, 20 minutes out of Sherman and 15 out of Gonzalez because I don't think he's, he's taken a huge leap in minutes personally, but, and you mentioned as well, like,
Speaker: the Heat were looking for shooting. I think they were heavily reliant on LeBron going there and then KCP wanting to sign. And that was what was being reported, that KCP was going to sign there if LeBron signed. And now KCP is negotiating a buyout with the Grizzlies so he can sign to the Sixers.
Speaker: So we are, we're going to, I know he's had a down couple of years in shooting, but that's another shooter and another kind of bigger wing defender that the Sixers didn't have. And now we have it. And the rotation just gets even deeper. So they're reporting is that,
Speaker: We're not far enough under the first apron to sign the two two vets in LeBron and KCP, and even at the minimum. So Dale and Terry's non-guaranteed contract is certainly going to go, and Jabari Walker will most likely and have to go as well, maybe somebody else. But it would look like Maxi, Jalen Brown, Vijay Edgecombe, LeBron James, Joel Embiid starting five, which is absolutely insane. And then the rotation behind that is Phylon,
Speaker: just a rookie that was just drafted, Anthony Simons, and Dean Wade, KCP, Huck Porthy, and then you've got other players to swing in there with Bona, Barlow, Justin Edwards, like and maybe Walker if he stayed. It depends what way it they swing that one around. But now the Sixers can finally stagger the minutes and rest Maxie and rest the likes of B.J. Edgecombe, who was...
Speaker: playing an incredible amount of minutes in his rookie season you can't keep doing that or he's going to get the the little niggly injuries like Max he got um Nick Nurse can finally actually rotate because he has so many good players staggered lineup you don't need to use Embiid to the death he can he can kind of flow in and out you we saw Jalen Brown and guard big players guard up LeBron can play as that kind of hub and if you need him to he was the third option for the Lakers last season still got 20 points per game six rebounds seven assists like This guy is going to do whatever you need him to do. He's taken a veteran minimum contract. You can tell that he wants to just win. And now the Sixers, what? The ball's going to go into Embiid. You're going to have to double him. He tosses outside to either Maxey, who can literally get whatever kind of shot he wants, Jalen Brown, who can ISO anybody. LeBron, the best player in the world, or a wide-open VJ Edgecombe, who's already been knocking down threes with the Bahamian national team. It shows that he's been working on that like he said he would, and he is going to be wide open.
Speaker: He's the fifth option on this team, and he was already so good last season. like He's going to come on so much because of this deal. so this sixers this This trade, I know like we're Sixers fans, so it could be like, you know, you're saying there's a bias there. But I think everywhere I look, even Celtics fans online, ah you know, Nick knows Ball. He's a big Celtics fan. And he came out with a video and was literally just like, the Sixers absolutely cooked with this and this team is going to be impossible to stop. So even Celtics fans are in agreement. So that's how you know you you did a good job on this deal. So Mike Gansey should really take a bow.
Speaker: it it's just it's just a fantastic offseason if you're a Sixers fan. And I want to get this out there early. Any LeBron fans out there, we will take you. Now, there is one thing about being a Sixers fan. We are so critical about our own team. The first people to hate on our team is ourselves. Last year, i think James knows, I made it very obvious in all of our podcasts, I was hating our team after the Jared McCain trade.
Speaker: A couple months have went by. i don't think I could be as high. was drawing you in already during the playoffs, and now this is just like the highest you could ever be with this LeBron move.
Speaker: it's It's just... and Another really fun thing as well. He signed for two years. He could come off the bench next year and win six-man of the year and just... have one of every award.
Speaker: Like, he could do it if he wanted to. it would He could average, like, 15, 8, and 8. And it would just be amazing from a 42-year-old player who's being surrounded by all of this. that Exactly what you were saying about last year, the minutes that are now going to be shared against all of these teams, I mean, against all of these players,
Speaker: We were really loading up heavy on Maxi and Vijay minutes, especially with Joel Embiid out. But you have, not only have we kept like most of the roster, we've lost Quentin Grimes, which honestly, I'm fine with. The people we've replaced them with, yo I'm fine with that. 60 million over four years is what they took him for. And we took LeBron from them for two years for 8 million.
Speaker: I'm perfectly happy with that.
Speaker: There's so much promise in this team. And to say it out of the way now, this team might only win the 48 to 56 games next year. Like they they might not they might not hit 50 wins.
Speaker: And still, we are going to have to talk to them about them as the fifth, sixth seed in the playoffs. Because how are you getting seven games off this team? Like, how are you getting seven games off this team? Joel Embiid, as we saw last year, everybody gives him flack for it. That guy would march through an active battlefield to go play basketball.
Speaker: And you have Tyrese Maxey, Vijay Edgecombe, LeBron James, who can finally, like... give a little break to any of the superstars when they're playing these heavy minutes. He can just be like, oh, this is my once every two weeks game to drop 40 points.
Speaker: I'm just going to cook today. like like Like what he did against the Sixers this season. He absolutely cooked us. there was There was a game very early on. was it Was it October, November? Yeah. And you and I were live texting the whole time. And the game was very close in the fourth quarter. And LeBron hits at three.
Speaker: And we both texted each other. We said, oh, no. yes I think LeBron's about to turn it was after three after three. Yeah. To finally, to see that happen for the Sixers. I'm going to buy every colorway of his jersey.
Speaker: I'm going I'm going I might but have to buy the entire team's jerseys. Give me a Maxi, a Vijay, a Phylon, a LeBron, an Embiid. Give me a Dean Wade jersey. Give me, give me, give me an Ariel Hog 40 jersey. Give me an Adam Oner jersey.
Speaker: Well, I've got the Maxie one on deck and I was like, oh, I don't know, next season when I was thinking about it, when Jalen Brown got traded, I was like, I want to get the throwback with Jalen Brown on the back. Because I was like, once we got him, I was already thinking we're like up there in the East, one of the best teams that that that there is, considering we had four of the best players in the league and and Dean Wade, or not four of the best players, but three of the best at Embiid, Brown and Maxie, and then to throw in Edgecombe, obviously.
Speaker: But now with LeBron, i there's just no way I can't not get a LeBron throwback and maybe multiple others because and how many teams like this is just the Heat, Cavs, Lakers and Sixers are the only four teams that had him on their team during his career. And that's just...
Speaker: It's insane to be part of that. Like you said, we've got to get over there for at least one game. And hopefully hopefully we see them bring in bring a championship, whether it's this year or next year. But I think there's as good a chance as any. And B said towards back in the last season that his knee was feeling a lot better. It was those freak injuries with the with the appendicitis that really knocked him out of rhythm and it wasn't the knee. So that was at least a positive. um And then...
Speaker: the reports coming out from from inside the and NBA that Embiid was absolutely leading the charge to sign LeBron and that he was the main part of their recruitment from the first day until the very end and now we've got him Maxi going crazy on social media you sent me BJ recreating the LeBron meme like it's yeah it's absolutely crazy so final thoughts before we wrap up from you don't know what's what's the last thing you want to say before we wrap this podcast going into next season with LeBron as a sixer
Speaker: The last thing I want to say, prepare to witness the most stressed nine months of my entire life. Every game, every loss is going to be, this is the worst team on earth. It's not working. And every win is going to be, how could we have put this team together? This is the best team on earth. I...
Speaker: I cannot wait for the ups and downs of everything that's about to happen. And on top of that, unfortunately, Shane cannot be here to today. i am about i We are never going to get through a podcast without me mentioning LeBron on the 60s. It's just not going to happen. It's not possible. Shout out to the Rockets. You've done absolutely nothing this offseason. You're running it back again.
Speaker: I hope it works. It probably won't. But just had to give a little slip in there for Shane. I'm sorry again. ah ah yeah it's gonna be a long season for Shane listen he was already getting annoyed about your LeBron shouts and then us with the Sixers and now it's gonna be just that combined so sorry for the long season ahead Shane but yeah that's us signing off on our emergency LeBron to the Sixers podcast we'll be back again with a usual usual episode next Friday at the usual time but cheers Michael thanks for coming on and we'll chat to you again soon I'll see you soon big bang
