Where the Sixers stand financially after signing LeBron James (!)

Sixers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey didn’t take long to make a big splash, huh?

On July 1, he agreed to trade Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks to the Boston Celtics for Jaylen Brown. He wasn’t done there, though. Three weeks later, the Sixers signed LeBron James (!) to a two-year, $7.9 million veteran-minimum contract (!!!).

The Sixers also split their non-taxpayer mid-level exception between Dean Wade ($9 million) and Anfernee Simons ($6 million), and they used a portion of their bi-annual exception to sign Ariel Hukporti to a one-year, $3.4 million deal. As a result, the Sixers are now hard-capped at the $209 million first apron, which means their payroll cannot exceed that threshold from now through June 30, 2027.

Since LeBron signed a two-year contract instead of a one-year deal, his contract will not be prorated. His full $3.9 million salary will go on the Sixers’ cap sheet rather than the standard $2.45 million two-year veteran-minimum.

That means another shoe has to drop before the Sixers officially sign LeBron. They were only $3.4 million below the first apron prior to his arrival. Adding him to their cap sheet would push them roughly $460,000 above the hard cap, which is a no-go.

Luckily, they have a few options to clear that space. Dalen Terry’s $2.6 million contract is fully non-guaranteed, while only $250,000 of Jabari Walker’s $2.6 million deal is guaranteed. The smart money here says that the Sixers will waive Terry before they officially sign LeBron.

If that’s the case, their cap sheet will look like this:

With 14 players under contract, the Sixers are now roughly $2.1 million below the first apron. They do not have enough room under the hard cap to sign anyone else, even to a minimum contract, unless it’s an undrafted free agent ($1.4 million) or a two-way deal (doesn’t count against the aprons).

If the Sixers want additional flexibility to shuffle around their end-of-the-bench pieces this offseason, Jabari Walker is the wild card in that regard. Like Terry, he’s set to earn $2.6 million this season. Only $250,000 of his contract is guaranteed through Jan. 10, but waiving him and signing a player to a minimum contract in his place would cost about $115,000 more than just keeping him around.

That might sound relatively inconsequential when we’re talking about a $200-plus million budget, but teams have gotten aggressive about pushing boundaries with their hard caps. The reigning champion New York Knicks finished less than $240,000 below their second-apron hard cap this past season, while the Los Angeles Lakers were less than $620,000 below their first-apron hard cap. In 2024-25, the Knicks finished exactly $53,349 below their second-apron hard cap.

The Sixers might have to leave one roster spot open heading into the season. (Think of it as an homage to former team president Daryl Morey.) Veteran-minimum contracts begin to prorate downward on a daily basis once the regular season begins, so they could look to sign someone in-season once the value of the vet-min deal decreases enough to fit under the hard cap.

Either way, the Sixers are now poised to enter the season nearly $6.5 million over the luxury-tax line. And if they aren’t willing to pay the tax for a roster with LeBron James on it, fire Josh Harris and Co. directly into the sun.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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