LeBron James picks the 76ers: Grading his 'last decision' as Philly beats out Heat, Cavaliers, Warriors - CBS Sports

For the fourth time in his NBA career, LeBron James is changing teams. After weighing pitches from the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors, arguably the greatest player in NBA history has elected to play for… the Philadelphia 76ers.

It's an outcome that would have felt almost inconceivable a month ago, but represents the culmination of a brief yet very effective roster facelift from new head of basketball operations Mike Gansey. The 76ers turned Paul George and two first-round picks into Jaylen Brown in a stunning trade with Boston last month. They split their mid-level exception across Dean Wade and Anfernee Simons.

Now, they land James for a minimum contract. That's a no-brainer on their end, but what about LeBron's? Does Philadelphia really make sense as his final NBA team? Below, the CBS Sports NBA staff will grade LeBron's self-described "last decision."

LeBron James picks the 76ers: Staff grades

Five teams were in the hunt for LeBron. If we assign a letter grade to each, I believe the Timberwolves, from a pure basketball and championship-viability standpoint, were the A. I believe in Rudy Gobert 's durability more than Joel Embiid 's for obvious reasons. I like Minnesota's shooting better. Anthony Edwards would've been right there with Giannis Antetokounmpo as the single best teammate available to James, and personally, I would give Edwards the edge.

But no question the Sixers are stacked. And pretty deep. The first thing I think about is the regular-season leeway that this provides. Injuries are huge part of the regular-season equation, and having even one more All-Star-level player insulates a team like the Sixers exponentially. Nobody has to get leaned on too much -- that's huge for a 42-year-old LeBron and clearly for Embiid.

This works both ways -- for the player and the organization. In LeBron's announcement, he mentioned that he thinks he can make the Sixers a championship team. He's right. The Sixers had a LeBron-sized hole at power forward before he decided to take his talents to Philly. Now he joins a team with a young, dynamic backcourt of Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, along with newly acquired Jaylen Brown and former MVP Joel Embiid. How much they get out of Embiid during the regular season and playoffs is obviously critical to the team's title aspirations, but having James to pick up some of that slack as needed will help mightily. The Knicks are the champs and should still be considered the favorites in the East until unseated. And the Celtics have proven time and again that they're perennial contenders. But for the first time in a long time, the Sixers will be right there with their two main rivals, challenging for eastern conference supremacy. That's a huge win for the franchise, and at this late stage in his career, that's the best James could hope for.

As everyone else has noted, this is an absolute home run for the Sixers, given the caliber of player they're getting for the cost. LeBron was the best player in a playoff series win three months ago and now becomes a supporting starter for Philly on a veteran minimum deal. As for LeBron, I think it's a solid and understandable choice, but there is some risk he's taking on.

The upside here is tantalizing. The Sixers are going to be an unbelievably good offensive team. Maxey, Brown, Embiid, Edgecombe and James is a dynamic starting five, with all five players capable of applying rim pressure and stressing a defense. Even in the times when Embiid is out, this is a team built to score with anyone in the league. Defense is going to be a bigger question mark, with so much hinging on Embiid's health. Brown and Edgecombe give them strong versatility on the perimeter, but LeBron isn't going to help much with rim protection at this point in his career and they will be reliant on Embiid to be near his best on that end if they're going to hit that title ceiling.