LeBron James' Potential New Role Updated by 76ers' Nick Nurse After Ariel Hukporti's Injury

Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse suggested LeBron James could see some time at the 5 to help compensate for Ariel Hukporti's season-ending Achilles tear.

Nurse told reporters he could opt for a smaller lineup at times, with James or Dean Wade filling in as the nominal center:

Deploying LeBron as a small-ball 5 might've been in the cards before Hukporti went down.

Joel Embiid is bound to miss time, either because of an injury or through a load management plan. On those occasions, shifting James to center arguably allows the Sixers to have their best five-man group out there.

Now, Nurse's hand will be forced a little more with Hukporti unable to soak up the Embiid-less minutes. Even if Philly tries to pursue an outside reinforcement, its options will be limited.

James has spent the bulk of his career playing the 3 or 4, but he has experience at center. During the 2021-22 season, when Anthony Davis missed 42 games for the Los Angeles Lakers, he was estimated to log half of his total minutes there.

Nurse is far from the first coach to have this idea.

The calculus is a little different, though, when LeBron is 41 and embarking on his 24th season. He can't absorb the kind of physical toll on a nightly basis that he did years ago.

Nurse will face a challenge in terms of using his optimal lineups without asking too much of his most tenured veteran.