Joining a new team brings with it a lot of unknowns. The trust built between teammates, especially during the fires of the NBA playoffs, takes time to cultivate on a new team. In leaving the Los Angeles Lakers to join another team, LeBron had to start over.
That is why it made sense that LeBron was reportedly trying to team up with a former co-star on a new team. While he had decided that he did not wish to go to war with Luka Doncic by staying on the Lakers, he did want the support of a player he could trust had what it took. From Anthony Davis to Kyrie Irving (Dwyane Wade didn't make the cut), James and his camp tried to motivate a potential landing spot to trade for his friends.
Unfortunately for LeBron, in the end the only former championship teammate he could find is a washed-up, end-of-his-career Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
LeBron wanted a star wingman
To be clear, the Philadelphia 76ers are loaded with talented players. Joel Embiid is a former MVP, Tyrese Maxey is a tremendously talented two-way point guard, and Jaylen Brown won Finals MVP with the Boston Celtics two years ago.
None of them have gone to war with LeBron, however. That trust simply isn't there. And it seems very possible that if another team had traded for Davis or Irving, LeBron would not be a member of the 76ers today.
Multiple teams tried to trade for Anthony Davis, but the Washington Wizards held firm with a high asking price. Perhaps they thought that another team would get desperate and offer the farm for their expensive and injury-prone star big man, a player who has not played even a single game for the franchise yet.
No one did, however, and teams like the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers lacked the former teammate carrot to dangle in front of LeBron. The Lakers may have begun their transition away from LeBron when they traded Davis and a first-round pick for Doncic, and no team was able to set up a reunion for James.
It went similarly with the Cavaliers and Kyrie Irving. It appears that late in the game, Cleveland tried to build a trade package around James Harden, but the Dallas Mavericks were not listening. They want to rehabilitate Irving after he missed all of last season with an injury and sell high on him, not low. If Irving had put his finger on the scale, perhaps he would have returned to Cleveland and be reunited with LeBron. He did not, however, and so he remains in Dallas.
With other former championship teammates either retired (Danny Green, for example) or in key roles for other teams (like Alex Caruso), the options for James were extremely limited. The best player he could shake loose appeared to be Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is a disappointing backup plan
LeBron and "KCP" won the 2020 championship in Los Angeles together. The 3-and-D wing was the ultimate connective piece. After the Lakers traded him away in the ill-fated Russell Westbrook deal, he found his way to Denver and won another title alongside Nikola Jokic.
Over the last few seasons, however, things have taken a turn for the worse with Caldwell-Pope. The 33-year-old wing has gone from reliable role player to washed-up veteran. Since signing a large contract with the Orlando Magic in 2024, KCP has lost his shot, lost a step on defense, and overall lost his way as a basketball player.
Last season, battling injuries and an ice-cold jumpshot, Caldwell-Pope was a massively negative player on both ends of the court -- to the point that the Memphis Grizzlies would have been better off signing a player off the street and playing them over him. By the end of the season, they were doing just that.
KCP just agreed to a buyout and will join the 76ers once they clear a few million off of their books. He will give LeBron the comfort of a former championship teammate. He will also be asked to plug a lot of holes on a 76ers team flush with on-ball stars and barren of connective role players.
Perhaps Caldwell-Pope can revive his career playing next to James once again. Perhaps he can find the fire once more. Perhaps catching passes from LeBron and Tyrese Maxey while defenses focus on Joel Embiid and Jaylen Brown will open up space for KCP to rediscover his shot.
Or perhaps he is cooked, and the 76ers will be looking for a replacement in just a few months. LeBron left behind the star power of LA for the star power of Philadelphia, but in doing so he could not find a co-star he trusts.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope cannot fill that void. And perhaps, when the playoffs roll around, LeBron will have no one to lean on as things fall apart.
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