76ers are officially eliminated from a superstar chase that was never real

The Philadelphia 76ers are one of those teams where salary cap limitations become a tad more blurry. That is all thanks to Daryl Morey, who is notorious for being one of the most inquisitive and persistent big name-hunters in the game. As such, the franchise has found itself in bidding wars it had no business being a part of.

And speaking of unrealistic sweepstakes, one that is likely to unfold this year is one That involves LeBron James. While the Lakers are going to be a tough out in the playoffs, all signs point to The King already being in his final year in Los Angeles. That leaves a window for win-now teams to lure in one of the greatest basketball players to walk on earth, but the 76ers are likely out of the running already.

Rumors say that James is indeed likely headed elsewhere in free agency. According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick, the belief among league executives is that LeBron will no longer be a Laker next season, with teams like the Cavaliers and the Warriors being viewed as his current top landing spots at this point in time.

The 76ers can bid adieu to the LeBron James dream that was more imagined than real

In reality, the 76ers never made much sense to James. Really, the only thing the franchise had going for it if they partook in the race for the superstar was the erstwhile interest he registered in the team nearly a decade ago, in 2018, before he made the decision to head west to go play in Hollywood.

Philly was still a team on the rise at that juncture led by Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. Circumstances are now much different, and the 76ers’ collective infrastructure may no longer appeal to James.

Likewise, it bear noting that the 76ers do not have a clear machinery to force their way into the James bidding war anyway. They already have a muddled payroll, and getting James would have required a lot of tanky moving pieces just to get a sniff. That is simply not realistic. The very think piece was more contrived and fan-generated than real.

LeBron James is already on the final stage of his legendary career, and while the 76ers faithful will still have fond memories of him, those sentiments will remain on the side of being a competitor. That is just the way it is.