Heading into the offseason, Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown openly admitted that they needed to bring in a marquee free agent to fulfil their ambitions of competing for a championship.They had real hopes of landing the best player on the market, LeBron James.But despite his agent meeting with the Sixers, he quickly decided to join the Los Angeles Lakers on a four-year deal.This was a clear indication that his mind was already made up prior to July 1.The news certainly didn't come as a surprise to young 76ers star Ben Simmons.He was keen to try and lure his mentor to Philly but he claimed he already knew where he was heading."I spoke to him before he actually decided, but I just had a feeling that he'd already picked so it was kinda funny," Simmons told NBA Australia's James McKern."I was reaching out to him but I already knew."

The lure of L.A.

LeBron later admitted that Philadelphia was one of three teams he'd strongly considered signing with, along with the Lakers and Houston Rockets.

Joining the Sixers or the Rockets would've offered him a better chance to contend for a championship next year but donning the famous purple and gold uniform and taking the historic franchise back to the playoffs was a challenge he wanted to accept.

"I definitely thought long and hard about the possibilities of lining up alongside Ben [Simmons] and [Joel] Embiid, or lining up alongside [James] Harden and Chris [Paul]," he said in an interview with ESPN's Rachel Nichols.

"I felt like at this point in my career, the ultimate for me — just like when I went to Miami, everyone kind of looks at me joining a super team. I think Miami was [47-35] the year before I joined the team.

"You look at the Lakers’ record. So I like the challenge of being able to help a team get to some places they haven’t been in a while, and obviously the Lakers haven’t made the playoffs in a few years, but the Lakers’ organisation and historical franchise matches up there with all the greats."

Another run

The 76ers will now head into the 2018-19 season with largely the same roster after they failed to make many moves this summer.

As well as James, they were unable to land Paul George or secure a trade for Kawhi Leonard.

Wilson Chandler is the only new recruit after acquiring him in a trade with the Denver Nuggets.

They also re-signed veteran guard J.J. Redick to another one-year deal.

Despite their lack of business, they are still among the best teams in the Eastern Conference and will be competing for a place in the NBA Finals.

Led by their young superstar duo of Simmons and Joel Embiid, they'll definitely be challenging at the top end of the east with the likes of the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors.

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