Bigger, bulkier Ben Simmons ready for Sixers camp

When the 76ers begin training camp Tuesday at Stockton College, they will see a bulked-up new face of the franchise.

Ben Simmons, the No. 1 overall pick from LSU, has spent considerable time in the weight room, not only leading up to the NBA draft but this summer as well.

"I am a lot stronger now than I was in college and it will help me take hits and bumps," Simmons said Monday at the team's new practice facility in Camden. "When I started [at LSU], I was about 217 and now I'm about 250, so I gained a lot of weight."

Simmons recently spent a week in Los Angeles working out with some NBA veterans, including Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. Simmons and James share the same agent, Rich Paul.

"Being around him and his habits, the way he works has helped me overall," Simmons said of James.

Simmons understands the leadership responsibility he will have. Coach Brett Brown has talked about likely starting him at power forward but also having the ball in his hands either as a point forward or point guard.

"I believe I am a leader, no matter what it is," Simmons said. "Whether playing Scrabble or Monopoly, I try to lead whenever the occasion arises."

Then without pausing, he added, "I am looking forward to getting the season started."

Like Simmons, forward Dario Saric is known for his passing ability. The 6-foot-10 Saric will begin his first season with the Sixers after competing the last two years in Turkey.

"I think I have a good role this year," he said. "I will have the ball in my hands but especially with so many good players here who need the ball."

Saric said he benefited from playing this summer for Croatia in the Olympics, where he averaged 11.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists. He described his play in Rio de Janeiro as up-and-down.

Drafted 12th overall in 2014 by Orlando and traded to the Sixers on draft night, Saric isn't ready to give a prediction on how his first season in the NBA will go, taking a wait-and-see attitude.

"It is my first season in the best league in the world," he said. "It is hard to know expectations for me. I will give 100 percent and fight every game."

Count second-year point guard T.J. McConnell as a big fan of center Joel Embiid, who missed his first two seasons with the Sixers after foot surgeries.

"He has been flat-out dominant and is a force down low," said McConnell, who averaged 6.1 points and 4.5 assists last season. "For not playing a game in two, three years, he has exceeded my expectations for sure and has for others as well."