Rajon Rondo believes in the new-look Philadelphia 76ers. The former NBA point guard discussed the team following LeBron James\u2019 arrival, identifying Philadelphia as one of the potential favorites to win the title.<\/p>\n
“Brilliant move. I mean, he’s got arguably the young best point guard in the game. I think he averaged 30 points a game this year. Bron is, like, you know, the king on the chessboard. You know, he has a lot of all the pieces, all the right pieces to make the right moves,” Rondo said.<\/p>\n
According to the former Celtics point guard, LeBron now has the ideal tools around him to manage the team and maximize his teammates\u2019 strengths: “We all know he’s a great basketball player, one of the greatest basketball minds to play the game. If you give him these types of pieces to play with, I’m an early bet on them being the favorites to win. I’m not a bettor, but if I were to bet, I would bet on the Sixers early.”<\/p>\n
Rondo also highlighted the unique combination of talent, experience and motivation Philadelphia can now count on: “Like I said, Embiid, all those guys, nobody has to play 82 games. They can all spread out. You got the combination of the hunger, the combination of wanting to prove something to a lot of people who talk bad about them. Obviously, the JB’s, Bron and Embiid, you got a nice combination of guys that have a lot of fuel and a fire left to prove something this year and again in the playoffs.”<\/p>\n
For Rondo, the key will be reaching the postseason healthy. “They get to the playoffs healthy. LeBron on the court, you know, the player he is. Obviously, we all know who he is. He has Tyrese Maxey as a weapon. He has JB. He doesn’t have to play any defense. He can talk the entire backs out on the defensive side of the ball, put guys in the right spot, and then again in the fourth quarter control and manipulate, outsmart whoever is the opposite best player on the team.”<\/p>\n
The former Celtics guard believes LeBron will benefit from having a younger, more athletic supporting cast, allowing him to rely more on his basketball IQ than his physical abilities: “And he doesn’t have to do it physically so much, with his mind, because he has better weapons around him now \u2014 young, athletic guys that can do a lot and play multiple positions.”<\/p>\n
Rondo also discussed the potential impact LeBron could have on Joel Embiid: “And then again, if Embiid gets to the playoffs with LeBron, if he listens to LeBron and follows his lead, you know how he’s a pro. And like I said, they get all the juju out of that organization. Everything, you know, good karma happens for those guys. They got a great chance to get it done.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The former NBA point guard sees Philadelphia as one of the favorites for the title following LeBron James\u2019 arrival and explains why the four-time champion could transform the team\u2019s championship prospects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":371863,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_spbk_hide_featured":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[92],"tags":[],"rumors":[],"typology":[],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-510220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n