LeBron James made yet another decision, this one, he swears, being the final one, taking him to Philadelphia to play for the 76ers, who haven’t won an NBA title since the days of Dr. J.
As you might expect from me, the only thing I really care about with the LBJ news is, how does it affect those in the world of UVA Basketball?
Directly, not at all, is the first answer: we don’t have any UVA Hoops alums on the Sixers roster, nor in the ownership group or front office staff.
Indirectly
Los Angeles Lakers
‘Hoos: NBA Draft advisor Tony Bennett
The Lakers lost James for $4 million a year, so, it wasn’t about the money – it was him thinking he couldn’t win in LA in the next two years, his age-42 and age-43 seasons.
- ESPN 2026-2027 power ranking: 11
- The Athletic 2026-2027 power ranking: 7
Boston Celtics
‘Hoos: backup forward Sam Hauser, maybe (?) forward Trey Murphy III
TM3 to Boston has been rumored for a while, and the talk is heating up with LBJ landing in Philly.
Add Murphy (2025-2026 in New Orleans: 21.5 ppg, 5.7 rebounds/g, 3.8 assists/g, 47.0% FG, 37.9% 3FG) to the Boston rotation, and Cs fans will forget about the trade of Jaylen Brown to the Sixers.
- ESPN 2026-2027 power ranking: 9
- The Athletic 2026-2027 power ranking: 11
Indiana Pacers
‘Hoos: head coach Rick Carlisle, assistant coach Jenny Boucek, backup center Jay Huff
The Pacers took a gap year in 2025-2026 after losing star Tyrese Haliburton in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals.
They’d taken out the New York Knicks, who went on to win the 2026 NBA championship, to get to the 2025 Finals.
- ESPN 2026-2027 power ranking: 15
- The Athletic 2026-2027 power ranking: 15
The rest
- Ryan Dunn (Phoenix Suns): LBJ is back East, but San Antonio and OKC are still in the West.
- Anthony Gill (Washington Wizards): The Wiz will at least be more entertaining to watch when they lose with Trae Young, Anthony Davis and #1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa in town.
- De’Andre Hunter (Sacramento Kings): Sacramento is all you need to know there.
- Ty Jerome (Memphis Grizzlies): I suspect that Ty will begin the 2026-2027 season somewhere else, given that Memphis is in teardown mode.
ESPN/The Athletic power rankings for those teams:
- Phoenix: 19/17
- Washington: 22/24
- Memphis: 26/28
- Sacramento: 30/26
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Chris Graham
