After months of speculation the NBA’s all-time leading scorer has made his decision. LeBron James signed a two-year, $8-million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday. The four-time NBA champion, Finals and league MVP truly has nothing left to prove, and now gets the chance to form arguably the strongest starting five in the NBA and of his career.

76ers starting lineup

The backcourt is formed by Third Team All-NBA point guard Tyrese Maxey, who averaged 28 PPG last season on very efficient splits (46/37/89) and incredible rookie VJ Edgecombe, who was Top-3 among freshmen in PPG, SPG and 3PM.

Joining LeBron in the front court are former Finals MVP Jaylen Brown (coming off the best season of his career) and former league MVP Joel Embiid, who averaged 28/9/7 in the 76ers’ first-round upset of the Celtics despite an injury plagued season.

To call LeBron’s fit in this lineup seamless would be an understatement. It is essentially built perfectly to complement his game at this age. He has a pair of sharpshooting, twitchy guards who he can find for open threes and cutting drives, a volume scoring small forward in the prime of his career who can shoulder the load on any given night, and of course one of the most dominant interior forces in recent history.

Will health be a major question mark in a lineup that features a 41-year-old LeBron and Embiid? Absolutely. But last year these five players combined to average 120.8 PPG (!), more than 24 per player. The defence could be choppy, but this team can absolutely light up the scoreboard on any given night.

  • PG, Maxey
  • SG, Sedgecombe
  • F,  Brown
  • F, James
  • C, Embiid

Lebron James career awards

2003 Rookie of the Year
4x MVP
4x Final MVP
6x All-Defensive Team
13x First Team All-NBA
4x Second Team All-NBA
4x Third Team All-NBA

The betting angles

LeBron’s announcement sent shockwaves across the NBA, but also the NBA Futures markets.

The news immediately vaulted the 76ers into rare air — Philadelphia’s championship odds fell to +900 as of this writing, trailing only the San Antonio Spurs and OKC Thunder at +275 each. 

Those who are into NBA sports betting know that this, of course, isn’t the first time the 76ers NBA championship odds have shortened this off-season. The acquisition of Brown a few weeks back did that as well. When the final horn blew on the 2026 Finals, the 76ers were +7400 to win the NBA title in 2027. They dropped to +2100 post-Brown trade and now sit  +900 — that’s what we call one-way traffic!

Odds to win the 2027 NBA Finals

  1. San Antonio Spurs +275
  2. OKC Thunder +275
  3. Philadelphia 76ers +900
  4. New York Knicks +900
  5. Boston Celtics +1400
  6. Denver Nuggets +1900
  7. Cleveland Cavaliers +2400
  8. Minnesota Timberwolves +2400
  9. Detroit Pistons +2400
  10. Toronto Raptors +2600

The 76ers now also share joint-favourite status with the New York Knicks to emerge as Eastern Conference champions in 2027 at +350. Incredibly enough, the four teams in the East with the shortest Championship/Eastern Conference Championship odds all come from the Atlantic Division: Philly, New York, the Boston Celtics and the Toronto Raptors.

That’s four of the seven teams in the East with the shortest odds to win next year’s title, so it’s no surprise that oddsmakers expect the Atlantic to be one of the most hotly contested divisions.

The Knicks currently sit as a +150 to win the division, but Philly (+225), Boston (+225) and Toronto (+375) are not far behind. (For the record, Brooklyn sits fifth at +44990, meaning a $10 bet on a Nets division title would payout $4,000.) With so much power packed into one division, we’re almost certain to see some of the best regular season (and hopefully playoff) matchups contested here.

Le final word

While NBA fans and pundits may be split on “Le76ers”, there’s no doubt that a new superpower has emerged in the association. LeBron has won a title every time he’s changed teams and the bookmakers at ToonieBet think he’s got a great shot to do it again. So sit back, grab your popcorn and buckle up. The city of Philadelphia may have birthed The Fresh Prince, but it is now the seat of The King.

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Feature image courtesy AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill via Canadian Press Images.

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