King James Gospel
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Ben Simmons on LeBron James to PHI rumors: “He’s a very smart guy”

By Quenton S. Albertie

CLEVELAND, OH - MARCH 1: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Ben Simmons #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers talk during the game on March 1, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - MARCH 1: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Ben Simmons #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers talk during the game on March 1, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers have made their recruiting pitch to LeBron James.

When the smoke clears in the offseason, Philadelphia 76ers rookie Ben Simmons, dubbed the “young King” by LeBron James, likely made the best recruiting pitch to James that anyone has made all season. When asked by reporters about the possibility of James signing with the Sixers and if he thinks James recognizes the potential of the group of in Philly, Simmons offered this response:

“He knows. He’s a very smart guy. His IQ on the court is amazing.”

It seems short and sweet, a simple compliment really.

However, Simmons didn’t just massage James’ ego with these comments, he used a Jedi mind trick. James, considered one of the smartest players to ever step foot on the hardwood, is well aware of basketball IQ.

For Simmons to say that, James has to approach the comments with the thought that if Simmons is right about his own IQ, he could also be right about what a player with his IQ should see from the Sixers.

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown offered up praises of James’ evolution in pregame comments. Sixers All-Star center Joel Embiid calls James one of the best players ever. shooting Sixers shooting guard J.J. Redick went as far as to call James the “greatest player to ever play”.

With James’ upcoming free agency at the forefront of everyone’s mind, the man known as King James has been linked to the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets… even the Golden State Warriors.

While James went out of his way to shoot down the Warriors rumors, though, and there have been reports saying that James doesn’t want to play for the Clippers and the Lakers aren’t focused on making a run a James in the summertime. That being said, James signing with the Rockets or Spurs in the offseason remains a real possibility.

However, among Eastern Conference teams with the best chance to sign James, the Sixers can’t be too far off.

In the past two seasons (the start of Embiid’s career and the Sixers turnaround), the Sixers are 1-6 against the Cavaliers.

However, in two of those six losses, Embiid wasn’t playing. Two other losses came by a total of 5 points. That said, if you add a player of James’ caliber to a team that’s already shown they can stick with a championship-contender squad, they surely will become championship-contenders themselves.

To add, it’s impossible not to come away impressed by how articulate and thoughtful Brown is as a coach or understate the importance of him dutifully preaching defense, execution and attention to detail. Brown, who comes from the Gregg Popovich coaching tree, is a terrific leader of men and his intelligence shows in his offensive schemes and defensive coverages.

Unless the Philadelphia 76ers opted to trade a package of Robert Covington, Jerryd Bayless and Markelle Fultz in free agency, Redick would have to be traded in order for the Sixers to sign James to a max contract. The latter option might be more likely, considering the youth and potential of Fultz and the length and shooting ability of Covington. However, Redick is one of the best shooters in the NBA and looks like a natural fit in a starting lineup that would feature Simmons, Embiid, James and Dario Saric.

The inexperience of the Sixers’ best players and durability concerns for Embiid are the biggest knocks against this team but the truth is, their stable of rotation players might be better than the Cavaliers’.

Their top two players are at least as great as, if not better than, what Love and the player selected with the Brooklyn Nets’ pick have to offer.

James might like Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue but Coach Brown has laid a defensive foundation for his team that Lue has yet to accomplish establishing in Cleveland.

All that said, the Sixers also have the size, talent and defensive ability to take down any team in the NBA.

Just this season, they have a 1-1 record against the Houston Rockets (sans Chris Paul) and are 0-2 against the Warriors thanks to two impressive second halves by the defending champs that allowed them to seize control of the game. Never forget that the Sixers came out and hung up 47 points against a fully healthy Warriors in the first quarter of their November 18th matchup.

This is a dangerous ball club and Simmons was right, James should know that.

Related Story: LeBron wary of putting faith in new additions?

*All stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com