Lakers Draft Rumors: Sixers inform Simmons he'll be no. 1 pick

Draft night was always going to be very straightforward for the first couple picks. Tuesday morning, the Philadelphia 76ers basically guaranteed this will be the case. According to Chris B. Haynes of Cleveland.com, they informed Ben Simmons' camp that he'll be the number one selection at Thursday's NBA draft.

Brett Brown once compared Simmons to a combination of LeBron James and Magic Johnson, which is not something you say publicly if you plan on taking the other guy. The Sixers will probably do a little posturing and claim they have made no such promise, but these kinds of reports are rarely actually proven false.

For the Lakers, the "drama" now becomes whether or not they decide to trade the pick or really shock everyone and take someone other than Brandon Ingram. Personally, I can't see either of those scenarios playing out. Ingram fits the Lakers' needs arguably better than D'Angelo Russell did last year and trading the pick is incredibly complicated given how low rookie contracts are going to be as the salary cap continues to increase.

I might greatly regret that previous graf and the Lakers could shock the world with some trade no one sees coming, but as of right now, the path forward is immensely clear.

UPDATE: Ben Simmons is a Sam Hinkie stan. We're better off without him*.

*: I'm kidding. Mostly.

You can follow the author of this article at @AnthonyIrwinLA.