The Philadelphia 76ers opened the offseason with a shocking trade on July 1, sending Paul George, two first-round picks (2028, 2031) and two second-round selections (2028, 2030) to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Finals MVP Jaylen Brown. Brown had been rumored in Giannis Antetokounmpo trade packages before the former Milwaukee Bucks star ended up in Miami. Before July came to a close, the Sixers made waves again, this time landing the biggest free agent of the offseason in Le Bron James. The 41-year-old agreed to extremely team-friendly terms with the Sixers, inking a two-year, $8 million deal (he made nearly $53 million last season with the Los Angeles Lakers).

The offseason moves come after the Sixers parted ways with former general manager Daryl Morey after six seasons in May before promoting assistant general manager Jameer Nelson to be the team's executive vice president of basketball operations under new president Mike Gansey. ESPN's staff of experts is looking back at the offseason and taking an early look at the 2026-27 season for all 30 teams, with 30 pieces -- one for every team -- rolling out each weekday through Friday. We're answering the biggest looming questions, evaluating X factors and much more for all 30 teams. Let's dive into the Sixers, who are hopeful their offseason splashes catapult them to the top of the East:

No team changed its fortunes from April to July as drastically as the 76ers. Taking advantage of Boston's desire to get out of the Jaylen Brown business enabled it to accomplish so much: getting a motivated All-Star feeling the sting of rejection following a career year, dumping George's contract and putting themselves in position to be attractive to an all-time great in James, who was looking for a new challenge. They also lessened their dependency on Joel Embiid's bothersome health as he will turn 33 during the season. They filled in the blanks by adding Caldwell-Pope and Wade as plug-and-play wings, changing the complexion of their franchise in several swoops. If nothing else, they won the offseason. -- Vincent Goodwill