The debate of who the Philadelphia 76ers should pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram, may have been settled way before the draft lottery.
The latest news is that Coach Brett Brown has already given his preference. Brown talks about his deep connections with Simmons in an interview with Philly.com. In the article, Simmons has already been referred to as "him."
"Think of just, and we've talked about, the unusual circumstance to end up where I have personally ended up with the history that I've had with the family and the coaches that have coached him," Brown said of Simmons. "I know very, very closely the people that have worked with him across the board."
Bob Cooney of Philly said that "reading between the lines" of Brown's statements, he seems to prefer Simmons. Cooney notes that Brown has been "all about relationships" and while Brown also mentioned that he is "old enough" and has gone around the basketball world to have ties with people who have coached Ingram (or even Buddy Hield and Kris Dunn were mentioned), his links with Simmons run deepest.
"Don't be surprised if after 23 days, they draft 'him,'" Cooney wrote, and Brown and company will work on building a "positionally balanced" team after that.
In another article from the local press, Derek Bodner of Philadelphia Magazine has also claimed that GM Bryan Colangelo already knows what to do with the no.1 pick if "he were asked today."
He does note that it is a long process, and there could be changes down the line.
"You want to leave your options open right down to the bitter end," Colangelo said. "Any number of things can happen in this process. Players reveal certain things over time."
Colangelo enumerates the process of meetings and workouts. However, if the draft were held today, according to Bodner, his sources who are privy to the Sixers process say it's Simmons.
In accordance with NBA rules, Colangelo cannot reveal any name. "In the event of a draft pick you cannot publicly state who you are going to select prior to the commissioner walking up on stage and making that announcement," Colangelo confided. Not even if "they're set in stone."
However, the media has numerous ways to figure that out. The number of workouts scheduled (or lack thereof) is one of the clues.
Simmons has always been on the Sixers radar and has often been identified as one of the last pieces of the tanking puzzle. Even in the Sam Hinkie era, the Sixers had real targets but the lottery failed them twice. It seemed clear among pundits that they wanted Andrew Wiggins in 2014, and since they ended up with Embiid, Russell in 2015 (or even Porzingis, allegedly).
They were also clear in their desire for Simmons and now that they can finally get "him" they would probably not change their mind even as one Brandon Ingram has emerged as possibly "a better fit." Taking from what Brown said, they'll worry about positional balance later on.