The Philadelphia 76ers finally got their face-t0-face meeting with Ben Simmons and came away from it impressed by the presumptive No. 1 pick.
Marc Stein of ESPN reports the Sixers met up with Simmons in Cleveland Thursday before Game 6 of the NBA Finals.
“The Sixers, sources said, came away impressed by the 20 pounds of muscle Simmons is said to have added to his physique since the end of the college season and viewed the meeting as the start of ‘building a relationship’ with the player they are strongly expected to select ahead of Duke’s Brandon Ingram with the first pick next week.”
Simmons did not work out for the team during the meeting, but that was already something that was understood. Sixers general manager Bryan Colangelo has already made it clear it is not a red flag, and he has previously indicated he is comfortable about working with Simmons’ agent, his family and the player himself (more on that here).
While the possibility still exists that the Sixers could take Ingram over Simmons, or perhaps even Jamal Murray if you believe John Calipari, it seems almost certain that the LSU product and Aussie star will ultimately be the top pick of the 2016 NBA Draft.