Can LeBron James Deliver a Championship to Philadelphia? Recent Superteam Disasters Raise Doubts

LeBron is headed to Philadelphia. The decision that held much of the league hostage has finally been made, and the Sixers are scary. But whether because of denial or genuine doubt, fans are questioning the fit of Philly’s newly assembled superteam.

The early 2020s superteam obsession taught us that simply putting a bunch of stars together doesn’t guarantee success. The Nets failed to make KD, Kyrie, and Harden work. The same for the Clippers built around Kawhi and Paul George. The KD, Booker, Beal iteration of the Suns was a complete embarrassment. And that’s just to name a few.

Initially, the hesitation regarding the new-look Sixers is warranted, but in reality, they aren’t the same as the rest of these teams. 

The 2017 playoffs were decided before they even began because of arguably the greatest team ever assembled. The Golden State Warriors featured two of the greatest offensive weapons ever, another 20 point all-star in Klay Thompson, and the perfect glue guy in Draymond Green.

The rest of the roster was completely underwhelming, and it didn’t matter.  Not only did this team win. They dominated.

Of course these four future Hall of Famers complimented each other perfectly, but they were so talented that everything else became secondary.

Now, I am not calling this Philly team the Warriors, but they are similar in the sense that they have reached that level of overwhelming talent. A core of Embiid, Maxey, Jaylen Brown, and now LeBron is almost too good to be true. 

While the talent is undeniable, the question of fit still remains. The combined usage of the “big four” from this past season was 123%, which obviously cannot exist on one team.

Still, there are two things that set this roster apart. The first is the willingness of these stars to embrace their roles.

LeBron is joining Philadelphia to win, which is indicated by the minimum contract that he agreed to. He’s also coming off a season as the third option on his team.

In 2019-20, The King led the league in assists while playing point guard, proving his willingness to adapt and focus on playmaking. Jaylen Brown has thrived as a secondary option for the majority of his career, earning four All Star selections in that role.

He also doubles as a great defender, even finishing top 10 in DPOY voting in his second year.

Similarly, Tyrese Maxey has shown his value as an off-ball threat, operating behind Joel Embiid, and for a time, James Harden. His ability as a playmaker is underrated as well, averaging 6.6 assists this past year as the lead scorer.

All three of these players can excel alongside Joel Embiid, who, when healthy, is arguably the best offensive option in basketball. His availability will always remain in question, but even in his absence, Philly has the firepower to withstand stretches without his scoring. 

The Sixers have one other thing that separates this squad from superteams of the past.

Typically the makeup of these teams consist of a few superstars who eat up the majority of the team’s cap space and the rest of the roster is filled with cheap players who provide limited value. The Sixers have almost too many valuable role players.

VJ Edgecombe rounds out the starting lineup, and Dean Wade and Anfernee Simons headline the bench. Newly acquired KCP brings championship DNA, and Labaron Philon has the potential to be the steal of the draft, although he’ll probably have a hard time cracking such a deep guard rotation.

The frontcourt is a little less impressive, but Dominique Barlow provided some quality minutes this season, and Adem Bona brings a unique profile to the table.

On paper, this team has very few weaknesses, between three and D wings, backup bigs, reserve ball handlers, no requirement is unmet on this roster. 

So while this team does resemble some of the failed rosters of the past decade, the overwhelming talent plus the well constructed roster make this squad a little bit different.

The adjustment period for this team is inevitable. Sharing the ball between four elite players won’t work itself out overnight. But we’ve seen it work before and Philadelphia has the pieces to make it work again.