76ers' LeBron James chase may come with signing former top-5 pick

The Sixer Sense · Jul 22, 2026 10:00 · 2 min read

76ers' LeBron James chase may come with signing former top-5 pick — Apr 9, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) walks off the court after the game against the Golden State Warriors at the Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Apparently, Mario Hazonja is being connected to the LeBron James chase.

According to Marc Stein of The Stein Line, teams around the league have shown interest in signing 2015 No. 5 pick Mario Hezonja. However, the list of teams is also reportedly similar to the teams that have shown interest in LeBron James. The way Stein phrased the reporting makes it seem like whoever signs James could also sign Hezonja, and that should raise some eyebrows for Philadelphia 76ers fans.

Obviously, if the Sixers were to sign James, Hezonja wouldn’t be anywhere close to the top story. However, it is noteworthy that teams interested in James may also be interested in Hezonja. Bringing Hezonja on board would certainly be a cheap way to add depth once James inks a contract.

Hezonja has been playing overseas for the past few years, and he’s been playing well. Maybe it’s finally time for him to make the jump back to the NBA.

Mario Hezonja could be connected to the LeBron James chase

The last time Hezonja played NBA minutes was during the 2019-20 season, when he appeared in 53 games for the Portland Trail Blazers. Since then, he’s been bouncing around various international teams.

When he first left the NBA, Hezonja joined Greek club Panathinaikos for one season. Then, he played for UNICS Kazan in Russia for one season. But in 2022, he made a huge jump.

Hezonja inked a deal to join Real Madrid that year, and since then, he’s played four seasons with the club, slowly becoming one of their top contributors on the court.

This past year, Hezonja appeared in 80 games (71 starts) across four competitions for Real Madrid, playing 23.1 minutes. He averaged 15.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists while shooting 44.4% from the floor and 33.4% from deep on 5.5 three-point attempts per contest.

The last two seasons have been down years from three-point range for the 31-year-old forward, but in the two years before that, he was shooting around 39% from deep.

Why the link to James? That’s unclear. But maybe it truly is just a way for teams to sign some depth behind him. Hezonja is a solid player looking for his next chance, and he’d almost certainly sign for a minimum deal.

For Philly, adding a guy like Hezonja off the bench would give them some solid size at the wing/forward position, especially if he were to be playing behind James.

It’s definitely a weird link, but it’s what’s been reported. So keep an eye on Hezonja, Sixers fans.