By Peter Gleason
The Sixers reportedly met with their flavor of the month for the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft last night in Cleveland.
Sources with knowledge of the meeting told ESPN that new Sixers general manager Bryan Colangelo and coach Brett Brown — led a contingent of team officials that came to Cleveland to dine with Simmons and agent Rich Paul 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.
Yesterday’s meeting did not include any basketball work, but sources say that the Sixers are to date the only team that has been granted direct access to Simmons in the lead-up to the draft.
