LeBron James’ move to Philadelphia is already pulling familiar faces along with him. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has agreed to a buyout with the Memphis Grizzlies and plans to sign a one-year, $3.9 million deal with the 76ers, reuniting him with James for the first time since their 2020 championship run together with the Lakers.
Caldwell-Pope, 33, has since added a second ring with the Denver Nuggets in 2023, but is coming off one of the rougher stretches of his career — he shot a career-worst 31.6% from three-point range last season in Memphis. Still, he and James share both a title history and an agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, and the Sixers view him as low-cost depth on a bench that already includes Dean Wade, Anfernee Simons and newly signed center Ariel Hukporti.
The move isn’t free, logistically. To fit both James and Caldwell-Pope onto the books, Philadelphia needs to shed over $6 million to stay below its hard cap, and is expected to waive at least one or two players on non-guaranteed money — likely candidates include Dalen Terry and Johni Broome — rather than touch its core rotation.
With Caldwell-Pope now expected to join a five-man projected starting lineup of James, Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, oddsmakers have already installed the 76ers with the third-shortest championship odds in the league. Whether the roster-building math holds up once the season starts is the next question for a front office that has moved fast and aggressively all summer.