With NBA free agency negotiations set to begin on July 1, there will be NBA rumors swirling as teams prepare for potential trades or signings. Among those teams will be the Philadelphia 76ers. They were quite competitive in the Eastern Conference but ultimately bowed out to an undermanned Boston Celtics squad full of experienced players. Now Philadelphia wants to add some superstar experience to the mix, and it looks like they're doing as much as possible to sign LeBron James.

Sixers to make space for LeBron

It's no secret that LeBron James is considered the top prize in this summer's free agency, and Philadelphia wants to land the superstar.

A recent article from Bleacher Report cites NJ.com's Zack Rosenblatt, who said the Philadelphia 76ers are "doing everything they can to clear enough cap space to sign him outright to a max contract." It's mentioned that LeBron James is going to cost about $35 million and that could take some work on the part of the Sixers. Bleacher Report suggests the Sixers will have about $26 million available after making certain moves.

Those moves would include signing their new rookies, Zhaire Smith and Landry Shamet, at a combined $4.1 million.

The Sixers will also need to free up money by renouncing the rights for several players including J.J. Reddick, Amir Johnson, and Marco Belinelli. Still, making all these moves leaves the team nearly $10 million short of LeBron's asking price as a free agent. There's some more they can do, though.

Possible trade needed to free up space

A salary dump may end up being part of the Sixers' solution. Bleacher Report and other sources indicate that the team can free up about $8.5 million of extra space if they can move Jerryd Bayless off their books. That would get them right near LeBron's price of $35 million, but only if they can find a way to trade Bayless and his salary to another team.

The other suggested option could be using the stretch provision. Under this provision, a team can basically waive one of their players. Then, they can have their remaining salary stretched over twice the amount of years that are left on the player's contract. So, in the case of Bayless, that would mean he's owed just $2.8 million next season, rather than the $8.5 million. It would save the Philadelphia 76ers about $5.7 million.

They'd need to make a few other moves after that stretch provision, though. One would be to get rid of Richaun Holmes' guaranteed $1.6 million owed. Another move might be trading Justin Anderson to an interested team. Anderson is due $2.5 million, and per Bleacher Report, would probably get more interest from teams than Bayless would.

So the Philadelphia 76ers do have opportunities to make it all work out. Based on the doing "everything they can" comments from NJ.com, it seems Philly might start making several of the moves mentioned above. They'll need to act quickly as they'll be part of a fierce competition to win the LeBron James sweepstakes.

The NBA rumors will finally come to a close when LeBron makes his next big NBA career decision in early July.
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