It’s now been a few days since LeBron James made his much-anticipated free agency decision by signing with the Philadelphia 76ers. This signing exemplifies an offseason that, if someone had told you two months ago they would’ve been called crazy.
Yet the crazy outcome came to be as the 76ers traded for Jaylen Brown and signed LeBron James in free agency. This offseason marks another time Philadelphia made major changes to their roster around Joel Embiid. Check out this article by us breaking down LeBron signing with the Sixers.
With the hopes of bringing an NBA championship parade to the city of Brotherly Love. This next season or two will be Embiid’s last shot of that parade coming to fruition.
After tanking from 2013-2016 in their infamous “Trust The Process Era”, under the direction of president of basketball operations Sam Hinkie during that time. This resulted in the franchise winning a combined 47 games during those seasons. 76ers fans had to witness some of the worst basketball played of the modern era.
Hope came in the form of the draft, where they selected Embiid third overall in 2014, Ben Simmons first overall in 2015, and traded up from the third pick to select Markelle Fultz first overall in 2016. After those years of tanking, they were ready to get back to being a legit playoff team.
Their biggest acquisition of the 2016 offseason was signing JJ Redick to a one-year $23 million contract. Which would only be an appetizer to the bigger moves they would make in the following years.
After their second-round exit in the 2017-2018 playoffs, this is when Philadelphia began making true major shakeups to their roster around Joel Embiid.
While the 76ers wouldn’t open up the 2018-2019 season with a bang, as they started this season with a 9-6 record. They would make a blockbuster trade on November 10th, trading for at the time disgruntled all-star Jimmy Butler from the Timberwolves. In return, Philly traded away Robert Covington, Dario Šarić, Jerryd Bayless, and a 2022 second-round pick.
This wouldn’t be the last big trade for the franchise this season. Heading into the trade deadline of this season, the 76ers were third in the East with a 34-20 record.
Elton Brand who replaced Bryan Colangelo as head decision maker for Philadelphia in the 2018 offseason, after Colangelo went under investigation for having a burner Twitter account and leaking team information.
Brand still wasn’t satisfied with where the team was. Brand made a blockbuster multi-player trade on February 6th, acquiring Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanović, and Mike Scott from the Clippers.
In exchange for Landry Shamet, Wilson Chandler, Mike Muscala, a protected 2020 first-round pick, an unprotected 2021 first-round pick (via Miami), and two second-round picks. Along with trading Fultz to the Orlando Magic only two years after trading up to draft the guard first overall.
Philadelphia deemed The Process was completed after the acquisition of Tobias Harris and believed they were primed to win a championship now. After trading for Harris, the 76ers closed the season with a 51-31 record and beat the Nets in the first round in five games.
Heartbreak would strike in the second round, as they lost in Game 7 to the Raptors on the infamous Kawhi Leonard game-winner. A shot that haunts Philly fans to this very day.
In a playoff run where Embiid would miss a game due to lingering soreness and tendinitis in his left knee. This would become an unfortunate pattern of his career. A team that people still argue was the best team the 76ers ever put around Embiid before this present-day iteration was back to the drawing board.
The drawing board became harder after Philadelphia lost not only the elite marksman in Redick, but most importantly Butler in the 2019 offseason. To keep the roster from falling apart more than it already was, they signed Al Horford to a four-year $109 million contract with $97 million in guaranteed money.
In addition to re-signing Harris to a five-year $180 million max contract, which the majority of NBA fans immediately viewed as an overpay. Simmons this offseason would also sign a five year rookie $170 million max rookie contract extension.
In the 2019-2020 season, the 76ers finished as the sixth seed in the East with a 43-30 record. Right before the end of the regular season, Simmons suffered a knee injury and missed their entire first-round series against the Celtics.
They would get swept by Boston, concluding a disappointing season. During the 2020 offseason, the 76ers would fire head coach Brett Brown and replace him with Doc Rivers.
Philadelphia, during this offseason, also hired Daryl Morey to be the team’s president of basketball operations and work alongside Brand. Their biggest trade of this offseason was trading Horford after the previous season proved he and Embiid were not an ideal pairing together in the frontcourt.
They would do so by trading Horford to the Oklahoma City Thunder alongside the 34th pick in the NBA draft, a lightly protected 2025 first-round pick, and the draft rights to Vasilije Micic. In return, the 76ers received Danny Green and Terrance Ferguson.
After retooling the roster by acquiring Danny Green and Seth Curry via trade, and selecting Tyrese Maxey with the 21st pick in the 2020 NBA draft. Philadelphia in the 2020-2021 season went on to be the first seed in the East with a 49-23 record.
Embiid this season finished top three in MVP voting and made the All-Defensive Second Team. Everything seemed to be looking up for the 76ers, then disaster struck as Joel suffered a small meniscus tear in game four of the first round against the Wizards.
Forcing him to leave game four after playing only eleven minutes, miss game five of that series, and be physically hampered for the rest of the playoffs. They lost to an Atlanta Hawks team in seven games in a series Philadelphia was the heavy favorite to win.
Not to mention Embiid’s supposed all-star sidekick Ben Simmons shrank under the pressure in this series. Simmons in the final three games of that series in total took only fourteen shots and scored nineteen points.
To cap off the series in game seven, he passed up an open dunk with 3:31 left in the game, when Trae Young was the only nearby defender. Marking the defining end of Simmons’ time with the franchise.
Their offseason was eventful in other ways, as on August 31st Ben Simmons requested a trade from the team. Despite his trade request and saying he would not report for training camp, Simmons was not traded going into the 2021-2022 season.
This situation would go into an ongoing saga where Simmons was kicked out of practice after coming back from holding out. Then more drama ensued as he would continue his holdout; eventually, Philadelphia did a disgruntled star trade swap.
At the trade deadline, they traded Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, an unprotected 2022 first-round pick with a right to defer until 2023, and a 2027 first-round pick protected 1-to-8. In return, the 76ers received James Harden and Paul Millsap.
Philadelphia ended the 2021-2022 season as the fourth seed in the East with a 51-31 record. Going on to beat the Toronto Raptors in the first round in six games, but Embiid would suffer another injury in the playoffs.
This time being multiple injuries against Toronto, where he tore a ligament in his thumb, a right orbital fracture, and a mild concussion. Specifically, the orbital fracture and concussion forced the star center to miss the first two games of the second round. Where the 76ers would lose both games and eventually go on to lose the series in six games.
In the following offseason, Harden took a $14.5 million pay cut by signing a two-year $68 million contract with a $35 million player option for the 2023-24 season. Allowing the 76ers to have the flexibility to sign PJ Tucker to a three-year deal and trade for De’Anthony Melton to improve their supporting cast.
Philadelphia had a regular season that was one to remember; in the 2022-2023 season, they won 54 games, clinching the third seed in the East. Joel Embiid went on to win MVP, and they would sweep the Brooklyn Nets in the first round.
Another injury to the superstar center in the playoffs struck again as he suffered a right knee sprain in game three against the Nets. As a result, Embiid missed game four of the first round and game one of their second-round series against the Celtics.
The 76ers went on to win game 5 in Boston, taking a commanding 3-2 lead. It seemed they were on the precipice of conquering their demons. Not only taking down their bitter rival, but Embiid finally getting over the hump and making the conference finals.
Instead, they only scored thirteen points in the fourth quarter of game six, losing 95-86. Then proceeded to lose game seven 112-88, where Jayson Tatum put on a scoring clinic, recording 51 points.
Philadelphia’s offseason was filled with only one major shakeup, coming in the form of firing Doc Rivers and hiring Nick Nurse to replace him. They had to deal with another trade saga, this time with James Harden.
Harden opted into his player option, expecting to be traded to his preferred destination in the Clippers during the offseason. After that seemed like it wasn’t going to happen, the future Hall of Famer proceeded to call Morey a liar during an Adidas promotional event.
James Harden went on to skip media day, missed the beginning of training camp, and briefly stepped away from the team. Three games into the 2023-2024 season, he, P.J. Tucker, and Filip Petrusev were traded to the Clippers for Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, Nic Batum, KJ Martin, a 2028 unprotected first-round pick, two second-round picks, a 2029 pick swap, and an additional first-round pick from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
For the first thirty-four games of the season, it appeared Joel Embiid was going to have an encore of his MVP season. Then it all came crashing down after he suffered a lateral meniscus injury in his left knee against the Warriors on January 30th.
Forcing the superstar to miss the next two months of the regular season. Embiid would come back to play the last five out of seven games of the season, to ramp up for the playoffs.
Where the 76ers would face off against the Knicks, while Philadelphia would put up a valiant effort, losing in six games. It didn’t come without their franchise center being unscathed; in this series, Embiid played through a flare-up in his left knee and a mild case of Bell’s palsy.
With Tobias Harris’ contract finally coming off their books, Philadelphia would make another major shakeup to the roster. This time in the form of signing Paul George to a four-year $212 million max contract.
Pairing up the multi-time All-Star alongside Joel Embiid and budding star Tyrese Maxey. In theory, the fit of Embiid, George, and Maxey made a lot of sense. Yet, the one big concern everyone had was whether Embiid and Paul George could stay relatively healthy in the regular season to be ready for a deep playoff push.
Everyone’s concern about the Paul George signing came to bear in the worst-case scenario. In the 2024-2025 season, Joel Embiid would only play nineteen games, and George played forty-one games.
Philadelphia finished this season thirteenth in the East with a record of 24-58. Despite their sixteenth overall pick from the 2024 draft, Jared McCain took the league by storm. After his first twenty-three games, he suffered a season-ending left lateral meniscus tear. Injuries were the story of this 76ers season, and all the optimism their fanbase had about having a 2-3 year window with the Embiid, George, and Maxey trio quickly dissipated.
In the 2025 offseason, they selected VJ Edgecombe with the third overall pick in the draft. Igniting some hope for 76ers fans who had little left after the previous season. This past season was another year where Paul George and Joel Embiid couldn’t even play fifty games each.
In addition to new fan favorite Jared McCan getting traded ahead of the trade deadline. But their backcourt of the future in Maxey and Edgecombe stole the show.
Tyrese Maxey made the All-NBA third team, and VJ Edgecombe finished third in rookie of the year voting. Putting a bandage on the open wound of Embiid consistently being in and out of the lineup. Along with George’s issues staying healthy and getting suspended twenty-five games for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program.
Despite all the chaos, Philadelphia finished seventh in the East with a 45-37 record. They won their first play-in game against the Magic without Joel Embiid.
Embiid had to miss the play-in game along with the first three games of their first-round matchup against Boston because he was recovering from an emergency appendectomy. After four games, the 76ers faced a 3-1 deficit and seemed a first-round exit was a foregone conclusion.
Instead, the 76ers flipped this series on its head, coming back from down 3-1 and winning the series. Behind the incredible play of Joel Embiid, Maxey, George, and Edgecombe.
The euphoria of Philadelphia finally taking down Boston faded away quickly. In the second round, they were handled swiftly by the Knicks, losing in a sweep.
Philadelphia has exhausted every option to build a team around Embiid that gives him the best chance to win a ring. They’ve fired two head coaches, four team personnel decision-makers, and gone through multiple star teammates to put alongside the one-time MVP.
This two-year window with himself, LeBron, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, and VJ Edgecombe is likely the last opportunity the star center has left to quench the thirst of a city dying for an NBA championship. Will this be the team to finally get it done? Only time will tell, but for now all 76ers fans can do is just trust the process.
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