The LeBron James Next Team market resolved to the Philadelphia 76ers on July 26, 2026, two days after James agreed to a two-year, $8M deal with Philadelphia and a day before the team announced the signing. Kalshi and Polymarket both settled Philadelphia Yes. The 76ers were a long shot to the end: 9% on Kalshi the day before the agreement was reported, behind Miami, Cleveland and Golden State.
Resolved July 26, 2026.
LeBron James' next team is the Philadelphia 76ers. His agent, Rich Paul, told ESPN's Shams Charania on July 24, 2026, that James was signing a two-year, $8M contract with a player option, and the 76ers announced the signing on July 27. Kalshi and Polymarket settled the LeBron James Next Team market on July 26. Philadelphia was fourth on the board the day before the news broke, at 9% on Kalshi, while the Miami Heat led at 45%.
James, 41, leaves the Los Angeles Lakers after eight seasons and the 2020 championship. Philadelphia is his fourth NBA team, after Cleveland, Miami and the Lakers. He enters his 24th season wearing No. 23 alongside Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown. In the team's announcement, managing partner Josh Harris said he could not wait "to see LeBron alongside Jaylen Brown, VJ Edgecombe, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and our talented roster."
Kalshi settled the market at 5:31 p.m. ET on July 26: Philadelphia resolved Yes, and every other team and the bundled stay-with-the-Lakers-or-retire option resolved No. Polymarket's NBA: LeBron James Next Team event, which traded about $46M, resolved Philadelphia Yes at 10:57 p.m. ET the same night. Both venues settled before the official announcement and well ahead of the October 23, 2026 deadline in Kalshi's rules.
The market was decided in two moves four weeks apart.
Kalshi closing prices at the checkpoints:
| Date | Philadelphia | Miami | Cleveland | Golden State | Lakers or retire |
| April 27 (90 days out) | 1% | 1% | 22% | 9% | 54% |
| June 26 (30 days out) | 1% | 16% | 31% | 7% | 50% |
| July 3 | 19% | 10% | 43% | 17% | 3% |
| July 19 (7 days out) | 9% | 47% | 35% | 12% | 1% |
| July 23 (day before the report) | 9% | 45% | 29% | 16% | 1% |
Polymarket ran close to Kalshi on every contender. On July 19 it had Miami at 46% and Cleveland at 34%, and on July 23 it had Philadelphia at 8%.
Did the market get it right? It got the first question right and the second wrong. Traders priced James out of Los Angeles within days and moved Philadelphia from 1% to 19% the moment Brown arrived. Then they faded the 76ers for three weeks in favor of Miami and Cleveland, and the winner settled from 9%. A month out, Philadelphia traded at 1% or less on both venues.
James' first regular-season game for Philadelphia is scheduled for October 20, 2026, at the New York Knicks, and the Cleveland Cavaliers visit Philadelphia on October 22. The boards that now carry his season are the 76ers 2027 playoff odds, the NBA Eastern Conference 2027 odds, the NBA Finals 2027 odds and the NBA MVP 2026-27 odds. Every Philadelphia board is on the 76ers markets page, and the next big player-destination board still open is Maxx Crosby's next team.
Kalshi's contract resolves to the team that is LeBron James' next team before October 23, 2026, with one bundled option covering a stay with the Los Angeles Lakers or retirement. Polymarket's markets resolve to the next team James officially joins by October 31, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET, and an official acquisition announcement before that date resolves them immediately. Each team contract pays $1 per share if that team is the answer and $0 otherwise. Both venues settled on July 26, 2026: Kalshi resolved Philadelphia Yes at 5:31 p.m. ET and Polymarket resolved its Philadelphia market Yes at 10:57 p.m. ET, with every other team No on both.
LeBron James signed with the Philadelphia 76ers on a two-year, $8M contract with a player option. The agreement was reported on July 24, 2026, and the team announced it on July 27.
It resolved on July 26, 2026. Kalshi settled Philadelphia Yes at 5:31 p.m. ET and Polymarket settled Philadelphia Yes at 10:57 p.m. ET, with every other team settling No on both venues.
Philadelphia was 9% on Kalshi and 8% on Polymarket on July 23, the day before the agreement was reported. The Miami Heat led at 45% on Kalshi, ahead of Cleveland at 29% and Golden State at 16%.
Philadelphia's July 1 trade for Jaylen Brown, which sent Paul George to Boston, moved the 76ers from 1% to 19% on Kalshi within two days. James then chose a roster with Brown, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey over Miami, Cleveland and Golden State.
Philadelphia opens the 2026-27 regular season at the New York Knicks on October 20, 2026, and hosts Cleveland on October 22. The 76ers playoff and Eastern Conference boards are the markets now tied to his season.