Philadelphia 76ers power forward preview: LeBron James, bench unit
· Yahoo Sports
The 2026-27 season is quickly approaching for the Philadelphia 76ers as they have their eyes on ending a long title drought after the big additions made in the offseason. The Sixers will field one of the more talented rosters in the league and will look to get to the mountaintop in 2027.
It's now time to look ahead to the new season and time to break down each position for the Sixers in an effort to preview what the season might look like. Sixers Wire will look at the power forwards now and take a look at what the Sixers bring to the table at the position:
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Starter: LeBron James
Heading into his 24th season, James is still one of the more productive players in the league. He averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, and 6.1 rebounds before then upping his scoring average to 23.0 in the playoffs. The future Hall of Famer is not the same James he was during his earlier career days, but he is still super productive and is one of the smartest players to ever play the game. He can slide right into this current group and enhance everything they want to do. Especially, in transition.
James is one of those players who can grab a rebound, turn around, and immediately speed up court to start a break. He is still an elite passer and his assist numbers could skyrocket playing next to guys like Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, and VJ Edgecombe. He can still take over and score when the time calls for it, but the Sixers won't need him to go off the way he had to do in the past at times for previous teams. Playing next to Maxey, Brown, Edgecombe, and Joel Embiid will take a big load off of him.
Depth behind James
The Sixers brought in Dean Wade to initially be the starting power forward for this group. Then, they grabbed James. Now, he's coming off the bench to give the Sixers a ton of defensive versatility and an ability to knock down open 3s. The Sixers need a guy like him because he doesn't need the ball to be effective as he can find easy buckets just by moving without the ball. He can defend big men and switch out onto guards and find his niche more often than not.
Other than Wade, the Sixers can turn to the reliable Dominick Barlow who was able to give the Sixers some real production on a two-way deal before earning a standard one. He was in coach Nick Nurse's rotation all season and started 59 of the 71 games he played. He, Jabari Walker, and two-way player Rayan Rupert will be factors in the depth behind James all season.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Philadelphia 76ers power forward preview: LeBron James, bench unit