Winning the NBA draft lottery was a big moment for the Philadelphia 76ers franchise. It was easily their biggest victory all season, and as head coach Brett Brown said, it serves as a form of validation for the controversial “process” that they've titled their extreme rebuilding tactics.

Now that they have the number one overall pick, it's time to make the monumental decision of who to select. These types of decisions often have lasting impacts on organizations for years and years, so they'll surely do their due diligence before coming to a conclusion.

However, it didn't take long for reports to come out stating that the Sixers are leaning toward selecting LSU freshman forward, Ben Simmons.

Brown admits that he is impressed with Simmons, but their choice is far from being made. From ESPN radio's Russillo and Kanell:

“The mock drafts obviously favor Brandon Ingram and Ben Simmons. We get that. But we very much are still going through the process of trying to learn as much as we can. The responsibility of trying to get this right carries a lot of weight.”

AP Photo/Julie Jacobson
AP Photo/Julie Jacobson

Brown made some generous comparisons to Simmons, though. More from Russillo and Kanell:

“He's got a hint of Magic, and at times you can see a younger LeBron where you are not sure what position he is,” Brown told Fox Sports. “One moment you think he is a 4 (power forward), maybe he is a 3 (small forward), he looks comfortable handling the ball.

“When you say, ‘What is his identifiable elite NBA skill?' most people will go immediately to passing.

Brown's raving of Simmons continued with another comparison to a guy he coached as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs:

“I'm aware of his junior coaches throughout Ben's entire life, and when you look at his form – no differently to when we drafted Kawhi Leonard with the Spurs – one of the assessments we had to make was, was this shot transferable to the NBA? Was it a total rebuild or was it a little bit of a makeover?

“I think that his form isn't one that you have to blow up and start over. I think it can translate.”

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