Simone: LeBron James signing with the 76ers will be a disaster

After an overdramatic, long-winded summer, LeBron James finally made his free-agency decision: A two-year, $8 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. He'll join Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and VJ Edgecombe in the City of Brotherly Love, creating one of the most stacked starting lineups in recent memory.

And I think it's going to be a disaster.

There's no doubting the talent Philadelphia will have on its roster. Brown and Maxey just earned All-NBA honors, with the former finishing sixth in MVP voting last year. Edgecombe finished third in the Rookie of the Year race. When healthy, Embiid is an All-NBA guy. James is an All-Star at 41 years old.

But talent doesn't win championships anymore. At least, not on its own. We live in an NBA world spearheaded by depth, fit, and play style. This 76ers team is following a team-building strategy that was popularized in the mid-2010s. That era is over.

It's the James era. The one where he can join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. The one where he can team up with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in Cleveland. Have you noticed the trend yet?

Each of those Big 3s had a very clear pecking order. James was the 1A. The obvious leader of the pack. The guy who would have the ball in his hands when things mattered most.

Then came Wade and Irving. The No. 2 options. Wade set aside his first-option hoops in hopes of winning a championship, and he was rewarded with two. Irving put his feelings aside (at least, for a few years) in pursuit of a title, and he got one.

Love and Bosh filled in the gaps. They were stars turned role players, willing to put stats aside in order to win a ring. It worked out well for both of them. They were fine being third-string stars.

Fast forward to today's NBA, and that doesn't happen anymore. The best example was the Brooklyn Nets. The Kevin Durant, Irving, and James Harden Nets. They attempted to follow the superteam blueprint, and it failed miserably.

Injuries got the best of them, sure. But personalities clashed, too. By the end of the run, Harden had requested a trade, and Durant was on live TV picking All-Star teams, refusing to even say his name. Clearly, having a ton of talent wasn't necessarily conducive to winning.

Look at the teams winning in today's game. The New York Knicks were led by Jalen Brunson, followed by Karl-Anthony Towns and elite depth. Right alongside them were the San Antonio Spurs: Victor Wembanyama, a clear 1A, backed up by incredible depth.

The Oklahoma City Thunder? Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, two stars okay with lesser scoring roles, and elite depth. The 2024 Boston Celtics? Two stars (Jayson Tatum and Brown) backed up by elite depth, including stars willing to turn into role players.

It's all about depth. One (or sometimes two) alphas with a crew of do-it-all talent right behind them. Most importantly, a crew that knows their roles. A crew that won't be eager to overstep their boundaries, getting in the way of the team's championship pursuit.

That's not the formula the Sixers are following. Philadelphia is playing that toddler game where you try to fit shapes into the corresponding holes. It's trying to bash the circle block through the square hole. Over, and over, and over again. That's what this season is going to look like.

The Sixers are banking on their current squad following the old-school Big 3 era, but with a Big 5 instead. They added talent for the sake of adding talent, hoping the math will add up to a championship. But that would require playing basketball on paper instead of in person.

Who is going to be the 1A? Or, more aptly, who is going to be willing to step aside to let someone else be the 1A? Because right now, the 76ers have four players all vying for that top spot.

First up is Brown, who just wrapped up an insanely impressive regular-season campaign. Right after the Celtics' playoff exit, he went on a live stream and called this year his favorite season of his career. He got the chance to lead the Celtics and proved the doubters wrong.

That doesn't exactly sound like a guy eager to step back into a shadow. Brown is ready to be the top option on a contending team. He proved he can be, and he deserves the chance to be that. But in a sudden twist of ironic fate, he's now playing with more top-end talent than ever.

What about James? Last year, he took a back seat at times. He was playing next to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, and at times, he was the third option. But when the playoffs came around, he had to be the 1A again, and the Lakers bulldozed the Houston Rockets.

Even at 41 years old, James will inevitably demand the ball. That's who he is. At every step of his career, he's been a top-scoring option. A go-to ball-handler. He always gets his touches. No matter what.

Last year, looking at three-man lineups with James, Doncic, and Reaves toggled, the best group was Doncic on, Reaves on, and James off. Those lineups had a +14.5 net rating. The next-best? James on, Doncic and Reaves off. Those groups had a +12.1 net rating. The Lakers were better with just James or no James when it came to their stars.

Then there's Embiid. Chronic injury issues have kept him off the floor his entire career, but when he plays, he's a ball-dominant star. At his peak, he was averaging over 30 points a night, taking over 20 shots per game. For context, James has only attempted 20 shots per game twice since the 2010-11 season. Brown has only cracked that mark twice in his entire career.

Edgecombe looks like a star in the making. But with this many cooks in the kitchen, his development is going to fall to the wayside in favor of winning basketball. Great for the Sixers, but maybe not so much for Edgecombe's career.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, is Maxey. And this is where the real problem lies. Of everyone on the roster, Maxey may be the best equipped to have the ball in his hands the most. He's an elite playmaker, a great shooter, and his speed might be the best advantage-creation tool the Sixers have on their roster.

However, Maxey is also unfortunately the best equipped to play off the ball. Because Brown, James, and Embiid? They aren't exactly great off-ball players. All of them thrive with the ball in their hands.

Brown hasn't shot above 36% from 3-point range since 2020-21. James has only shot above 37% twice since 2017-18, though those two years were in 2023-24 and 2024-25. Embiid has only been above 34% once in the last four years, though injuries have largely kept him off the court.

But what about catch-and-shoot numbers? Surely those marks are all weighted down because Brown, James, and Embiid were taking a ton of tough looks from distance because they're constantly handling the ball, right? Well...

Last year, Brown took 2.5 catch-and-shoot threes per game, shooting 33.1%. James took 2.0 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers a night, shooting 32.8%. And Embiid took 3.2 per game, shooting 34.2%. None of the three is built to be an off-ball shooter.

Meanwhile, Maxey shot 41.7% on 3.4 catch-and-shoot threes per game, and Edgecombe was at 38.7% on 3.4 attempts a night. Both are better suited to play off the ball, but in reality, Maxey is the guy who Philadelphia should want with the ball in his hands the most.

James is 41 years old. Embiid and James significantly slow down the pace of the game. Brown's on-ball creation numbers don't match that of a superstar. Maxey's speed, playmaking, and 3-point shot make him the best option on the ball, but if nobody else is great off the ball, then where does that leave Maxey?

The 76ers brought in four superstar quarterbacks on their roster. There is only one ball. Instead of adding elite role players to the lineup at wide receiver, running back, and on the O-line, Philadelphia is just going to have their other three quarterbacks play those positions when necessary. It doesn't make sense in football, and it doesn't make sense in basketball, either.

This isn't 2012 anymore. Teams can't just add as much talent as they can find and expect it to work on the court. Rosters need to have synergy. All the pieces have to work together perfectly.

Brunson isn't a great defender, but he's an elite on-ball creator. So, the Knicks paired him with a top-notch pick-and-roll partner in Towns (who can shoot and create for himself when needed), and they surrounded him with elite defenders in OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart.

The Thunder have a clear leader. A ball-dominant star who is the best shot-maker in the world. So, they drafted a jack-of-all-trades second option in Jalen Williams who can create for himself and defend at a high level. They picked Chet Holmgren, who doesn't take up a lot of offensive usage and is the anchor of their defense.

The 2024 Celtics knew they had two elite scoring options. So, they added an All-Star who could play down into a role-player position, locking up opposing stars and nailing 3-balls (Jrue Holiday). They landed a 7-foot-3 defensive beast who could space the floor (Kristaps Porzingis). And they already had two do-it-all guys at very important positions (Derrick White and Al Horford).

Philadelphia's roster does not fit. Only two of the projected five starters are above-average 3-point shooters. Only two project to be quality off-ball fits. Only one (Edgecombe) can be set aside as a guy who shouldn't have the ball in his hands a lot (and even he probably should for developmental purposes). And perhaps most notably, only one was a plus-defender last year: Embiid. And he can't stay on the court.

Let's take a look at DARKO. The stat can be explained here, but it takes into account NBA box scores, tracking data, and other game-level information and spits out a score that estimates a player's impact (on offense, defense, or combined).

According to Databallr, only Embiid is a positive defender (and even he is at a +0.5). All four other projected 76ers starters have a negative D-DPM (DARKO defensive-plus-minus). For context, the best defenders last year (min. 20 MPG), according to DARKO, were Rudy Gobert (+3.5), Isaiah Hartenstein (+2.9), and Wembanyama (+2.4). The worst (min. 20 MPG)? Zach LaVine (-2.1), Keyonte George (-1.9), and DeMar DeRozan (-1.9).

The Sixers have built a lineup with no consistent stoppers. Brown can be that guy at the point-of-attack when he turns it on, but he's not a good off-ball defender, and the on-ball numbers were down this season throughout the course of the regular season. James can turn up the heat, too, but he's 41. He has limitations.

At his best, Embiid was a force in the paint. But he just doesn't move the way he once did, and his health will almost certainly keep him off the court at times. Maxey is small, and Edgecombe is only 20 years old and has yet to prove himself as a defender.

Then, there's Philadelphia's depth. Heading into next season, the Sixers' bench consists of Anfernee Simons, Dean Wade, rookie Labaron Philon Jr., Dominick Barlow, Ariel Hukporti, Adem Bona, Dalen Terry, Johni Broome, Justin Edwards, Jabari Walker, Rayan Rupert (two-way), and Caleb Love (two-way).

Simons and Wade are quality pieces. Dependable guys who can play consistent rotation minutes. Outside of that? The cupboard is bare. Edwards is liable to go off every once in a while. Love showed some promise as a rookie in Portland last year. Barlow can play some solid minutes. Philon showed flashes in Summer League.

The real problem occurs when you take a look at the center room. Embiid hasn't played 40 games since the 2022-23 season, and right now, the only backup centers the Sixers have on the roster are Hukporti and Bona. Neither has ever played 20 minutes per game in a season, and Hukporti has never averaged 10.

And all of that is without properly mentioning the personalities. Brown, James, and Embiid, in particular, have very strong ones. And in order for a team to truly mesh, everyone needs to be on the same page.

All three of those guys care about winning. That's all they want to do. But it's not hard to run any of them the wrong way. Brown lost to the Sixers in the playoffs last year and immediately began criticizing Embiid's flopping. If nothing else, the interpersonal relationships will be something to strongly monitor.

Maybe James shows up to Philadelphia, a standard is set, and the Sixers storm through the regular season. Maybe Brown, James, Embiid, and Maxey calmly agree to share the ball evenly and listen to Nick Nurse no matter what. Maybe Brown won't care if he doesn't have the ball a lot. Maybe James will take a back seat. Maybe Embiid will be healthy.

Anything could happen in Philadelphia next season. The Sixers could win a championship. But based on history, play styles, and on-court fit, this 76ers team is not built to win. It's built to be a talent show.