They came within one Game 7 home victory from dethroning James last season, and that was with Gordon Hayward, last summer’s premier free-agency defection, missing all but the season opener with a broken left leg. Regardless of Kyrie Irving’s future with the franchise, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will be forces for seasons to come. Another Eastern Conference team on the rise, the 76ers, reportedly met with James’ agent Sunday in Los Angeles.