Corey Brewer Says 76ers Are a ‘Great’ Fit for LeBron James
Corey Brewer is a big fan of LeBron James signing with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The 40-year-old Brewer matched up against James on numerous occasions over the years after entering the NBA in 2007. Brewer’s NBA career lasted until 2020 and he had a brief stint with the 76ers during the 2018-19 season after spending the prior two years with the Los Angeles Lakers. He is now one of the stars of Ice Cube’s BIG3 League for the Detroit Amps, having played in the league since 2022.
Brewer said Philadelphia is “great” for the 41-year-old James, who will be teaming up with newcomer Jaylen Brown and 76ers holdovers such as Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and V.J. Edgecombe as they look to win a championship.
“My overall thoughts are I think it’s great for him,” said Brewer in a one-on-one interview with R.org. “LeBron, he wants to win. He still has a lot to give in basketball. LeBron averaged 20 this year. Everybody says he’s older, but he’s still playing at a high level. It’s insane the things he can do and the things he’s still doing. So for him, I felt like he wanted to go somewhere and give himself a chance to win again. And Philly has a good team.
“You look at the pieces; he could have gone to a lot of different places,” Brewer continued. “I feel like this is a good place for him. He’s got good pieces. You got V.J. Edgecombe, a young guy I really like a lot. I love Maxey, and then Joel, he’s older, but Joel still puts up numbers when he plays. He’s still a top three center in the NBA, which is insane to say. But he’s still very, very talented. So you add LeBron to that mix, they’re gonna be a tough team.”
There were several teams considered potential landing spots for the four-time MVP, including his former team, the Miami Heat. James played four years in Miami and won two championships with the Heat during his stint there from 2010 until 2014.
Brewer said Miami also would have been a “great option” for him due to Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was acquired via trade from the Milwaukee Bucks.
“I felt like this was a great option,” said Brewer of the 76ers. “I feel like Miami could have been a great option just because of Giannis. You put LeBron and Giannis on the court together, it could have been really good too. But I think he looked at the whole team. He looked at the whole situation, and Philly wants to win. They want to win bad, and I think LeBron wants to win too. It’s a good situation for him.”
James signed a two-year deal with a player option for the second season in Philly. When asked how much longer he believes the 23-year veteran will play, Brewer said he’s got “three good ones” left in him.
“I personally think he’s got another three good ones left for sure, but it just depends how much he wants to play,” said Brewer.
When factoring in former Finals MVP and five-time All-Star Brown to the mix, the 76ers will be one of the championship favorites and are considered the top Eastern Conference threat to the defending NBA champs, the New York Knicks.
“To add Jaylen Brown with the dudes I just named, that’s a really good team,” said Brewer. “Jaylen Brown is a really good player, man. I think he doesn’t get the credit of most superstars. He’s a real superstar. Jaylen Brown can play basketball, man. He’s super talented on both ends of the court. It’s gonna be good.”
Brewer acknowledged that the 76ers are probably the biggest threat to the Knicks in the East even though the new starting five haven’t taken the court officially yet.
“I feel like yeah, they’re gonna be the biggest,” said Brewer of the 76ers. “Yeah, it’s hard not to say that. I haven’t seen them play together. That’s the thing, right? We gotta see. We gotta see how they’re gonna mesh, and they haven’t played one game together. I’m also a real basketball guy, and I need to see them play. But on paper, yes.”
The trade from the Boston Celtics to the 76ers took everyone by surprise. They’re not only conference rivals, they’re division rivals and the Celtics just lost to the 76ers in the playoffs.
Brewer said he was “surprised” like everyone else and acknowledges that Brown will come out with an even bigger chip on his shoulder.
“I was a little surprised just because they are both in the East, and I don’t feel like I want to trade my best player to somebody in the same conference, especially a team I just played in the playoffs,” said Brewer. “But hey, Boston has a plan, and they cut a lot of tax. A lot of tax money got cut there. It’s also business too. NBA is a business.
“Jaylen Brown’s going to come out and try to play the best basketball,” Brewer continued. “He’s gonna be ready. I feel like last year he had a great season. He was up for MVP if you look at the way he was leading the Boston team, which everybody thought was not gonna do much with (Jayson) Tatum being out so long, we saw what happened.”
Meanwhile, James’ former team — the Lakers — have a lot of question marks entering the new season. They’re clearly building around the young pieces in Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves and they have a brand new supporting cast around them in Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton.
Brewer likes the new pieces that the Lakers brought in, giving praise to Sexton and Kessler.
“I like Colin Sexton a lot, he plays hard, man,” said Brewer.
“He’s one guy in the NBA that every night you watch that kid play, he’s playing hard, super hard. I like Walker Kessler, the defensive big. He’s a lob threat for Luka, and we’ve see what Luka and Austin can do together. They’ve been playing well. They both averaged 20 something last year. Luka is Luka, man. Luca is always going to be a top three player up for MVP. Those guys they learn to play off each other. It’s another team, it’s going to be a new team. They got to learn each other too.”
However, he does admit he’s unsure of how good the Lakers will be this season with so many new pieces and without James.
“Right now, I can’t even tell you to be honest,” said Brewer. “They have a lot of new pieces. It’s different when you have LeBron out there. (DeAndre) Ayton’s gone. So they got a whole new team, so we gotta see them play.”