76ers vs. Warriors: Does LeBron James’ new team stand up to a dynasty, as Kevin Durant believes?

August 4, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

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76ers vs. Warriors: Does LeBron James’ new team stand up to a dynasty, as Kevin Durant believes? appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The biggest winners of the NBA offseason are the Philadelphia 76ers. The team fleeced the Boston Celtics in one of the biggest trades of one of the most hectic offseasons ever. In that deal, they swapped Paul George and two first-round picks for Jaylen Brown. Labaron Philon was one of the steals of the 2026 NBA Draft, and Anfernee Simons was arguably the best value get in all of free agency. Furthermore, Dean Wade was signed to provide 3-point shooting. Of course, though, the cherry on top was landing LeBron James, who is one of the best players in NBA history.

All of these additions join an already loaded core that includes former MVP Joel Embiid, one of the best scorers in the NBA in Tyrese Maxey, and a youngster who was in Rookie of the Year talks in V.J. Edgecombe. Now, the 76ers are commonly being called the favorites to make it to the NBA Finals out of the Eastern Conference.

Kevin Durant is one such believer in this team’s roster. The Houston Rockets star, who is fifth on the all-time scoring leaderboard, went viral for comparing the 76ers to one of the best dynasties in recent memory; a team he just so happened to play for, the Golden State Warriors. Durant is never shy about sharing his opinions, and he doubled down on his belief in the 76ers with a social media comment claiming that Philadelphia may be even better than the Warriors at their peak were.

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“Ain’t close lmao. Joel, MVP recently. Jaylen Brown, recent Finals MVP, Tyrese Maxey, All-Star the last three years. We all know what Bron does. Klay Thompson, never a MVP Candidate in nothing, 22ppg. Draymond 14ppg, 7 rebounds, 6 assists. Steph a MVP just like Joel was. I don’t get how the Warriors team is better on paper.”

Of course, as they often do, Durant’s opinions caught plenty of backlash, particularly from his former teammates, Green and Thompson. Does Durant have a point, though? Let’s take a look at how the current 76ers compare to the Warriors dynasty ‘on paper’.

How do the 76ers compare to the Warriors?

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The Warriors already had a championship and a 73-win season under their belts when Durant decided to join them in arguably the most controversial free agent decision in NBA history. Curry was well on his way, if not already established as the greatest 3-point shooter in NBA history. Thompson, the other half of the Splash Brothers duo, was not far behind him in that regard, and Green was the glue player who provided defense, playmaking, and enforcement.

When Durant joined the team, the all-time great small forward already had four scoring titles and an MVP to his name. His Oklahoma City Thunder had also just lost to the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, so many viewed his free agent decision as a soft move in which he was joining the enemy.

From there, the Warriors won back-to-back championships with Durant on the roster, both of which he was named Finals MVP for. A torn achilles tendon limited Durant’s tenure with the Warriors to just three seasons, but Golden State was as close to unbeatable as a franchise can get with their big four that had three 20-plus-point-per-game scorers.

As Durant has mentioned, this 76ers team has four 25-point-per-game scorers. Embiid has twice led the NBA in scoring, maxing out at 33.1 points per game during his MVP season. He was at 26.9 points per game last season, which just trailed Maxey’s scoring mark of 28.3. Brown was even better as a scorer, as with Jayson Tatum sidelined, Brown managed to finish fourth in the NBA with 28.7 points per game.

Durant might not have accounted for the fact that James had his career-worst scoring mark (20.9) since his rookie season last year, but the 41-year-old still has 20 seasons under his belt above the 25-point-per-game threshold. Regardless, there are a lot of buckets to be had in Philadelphia. The team has tons of isolation potential, in particular, and they all like to get downhill. Embiid is one of the most creative big men scorers, too, as few other centers have been able to score from outside and off the bounce as he can.

Now that may be the biggest difference in the offensive makeup of the Warriors of old and the current 76ers. Golden State was all about ball movement and 3-point shooting. Golden State was also known for their small ball play, as the center position was usually a position of weakness during their dynasty years.

However, the Warriors also had such sustained success because they had so few question marks. Prior to Durant’s injury in Game 5 of his third straight NBA Finals appearance, the Warriors rarely had health issues. Philadelphia, meanwhile, will not only be counting on a soon-to-be 42-year-old, but Embiid is perhaps more known for his injury woes than his on-court success. The big man nicknamed “The Process” has played about half of the games he has been eligible for throughout his career, and without him at full strength, the 76ers’ title hopes are doomed.

Comparing a team that has yet to play a minute together to one that won four championships in an eight-year span is obviously overzealous, and considering James’ age and Embiid’s streakiness, the 76ers won’t come close to matching Golden State’s longevity. Even so, they certainly can be viewed at as title favorites this upcoming season, and the sky is the limit for how dominant they can be.

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