Though a number of NBA destinations popped up in rumors as potential landing spots for LeBron James, it seemed to come down to three teams in the end: the Lakers, Cavaliers, and 76ers. Were the Sixers really up there in contention? Their owner believes so. In an interview with ESPN, team managing partner Josh Harris explained that he believes James and his camp gave serious consideration to coming to Philly.
"I think they considered us very strongly," Harris said, according to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk, at Summer League Monday in Las Vegas. "I think he—I would be speculating on how he makes his decisions, and I don't want to do that—but I think that they were really serious [about Philadelphia]. The fact that they took the meeting with us was something that they didn't view lightly, so I think that they were very serious about it."
Philly's biggest asset was, of course, its burgeoning young core, spearheaded by emerging stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
Harris also discussed his team's efforts to add another star in general this summer. If you want to read between the lines: he was probably referring to Kawhi Leonard.
"If the right situation comes where we can acquire somebody that will really add value to our program and the cost of it isn't prohibitive, then we will move forward and do that," Harris explained. "If that doesn't come along for whatever reason, we will keep moving forward with our program. Just based on what we did this offseason, we are going to get better and move closer to our goal, which is that NBA championship that we keep talking to. If we get the right deal, we will do it."
The Sixers are currently Vegas' fifth-favorite—behind the Warriors, Celtics, Rockets, and Lakers, respectively—to win the 2018-19 title.
