In July, LeBron James chose to play his 24th season in Philadelphia on a two-year, $8 million contract, with a player option on the second year. With camps opening September 29, the question for the 76ers is no longer whether they won the summer. It is whether this roster can stay on the floor long enough to show it.

Last season's split frames it. Philadelphia went 24-14 in the 38 games Joel Embiid played and 21-23 in the 44 he missed. Mike Gansey, the new head of basketball operations, cited the first half at his introduction in June. Everything since has been built on the idea that Embiid plays more.

The summer raised the ceiling, and the rulebook sent the bill

James cost nothing in assets. He left the Lakers after eight seasons and signed for the veteran's minimum of about $3.9 million, which by ESPN's count makes him only the seventh-highest-paid player on the roster. He chose Philadelphia over Cleveland, Miami and Golden State.

The move that made him possible did cost something. On July 1, the 76ers agreed to send Paul George, first-round picks in 2028 and 2031 and two second-rounders to Boston for Jaylen Brown, an All-NBA selection last season. Gansey has said the Brown trade is what gave Philadelphia a real chance at James.

The rest of the price is in the rulebook. Signing Dean Wade with the non-taxpayer mid-level exception hard-capped the 76ers at the $209 million first apron for the season. To fit James and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, they waived Dalen Terry and traded Johni Broome to the Clippers, and ESPN's Bobby Marks says the open 15th roster spot cannot be filled until late December. Injury cover has to come from within.

James has already learned to play a smaller part

The fit question is fair. ESPN's Dean Oliver counts four players with career usage rates above 25%: James, Brown, Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, an All-Star starter who spent much of last season as the first option by necessity. After the Game 7 win in Boston, Maxey said he "had to learn when to be aggressive, when not to be aggressive" once Embiid was back.

James is the easiest piece to fit. ESPN's Zach Kram found that his 27% usage rate last season was the lowest of his career, and that he held the ball for 3.8 minutes a game, 37% below his previous low since tracking began in 2013-14. He still averaged 20.9 points and 7.2 assists over 60 games.

Oliver's own numbers soften the alarm. With second-year guard VJ Edgecombe, the likely starting five combine for a 134% career usage rate, level with the 2010-11 and 2012-13 Miami Heat. James played on both. One lost in the Finals and the other won the title.

Availability, not talent, decides the season

Embiid had an emergency appendectomy on April 9, returned in Game 4 of the first round and scored 34 points in the Game 7 win in Boston. He then missed a game of the Knicks' second-round sweep with ankle and hip problems. In August, Gansey told ESPN it had been Embiid's first healthy summer in a while.

He's extra motivated. He wants to play a lot of games.

Mike Gansey, 76ers president of basketball operations, speaking to ESPN

Gansey said the club would draw up a workload plan once the schedule was out. James turns 42 in December and said in July he had been "pretty sure I played my last game" before deciding to continue. The second year is his to decline.

The East will not wait. The Knicks are champions and Miami traded for Giannis Antetokounmpo in June. Philadelphia opens on October 20 at Madison Square Garden, where the team that swept it in May raises its banner, and visits the Lakers on Christmas Day. What settles it is how many nights Embiid and James are on the floor together.