One Of LeBron’s Top Free Agent Targets Turned Him Down To Become ‘Elite’ In Orlando

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A lot was made of LeBron James‘ approach to the NBA’s free agency period in 2017. He’s known for being active and trying to recruit talent to join him in his pursuit of a title, but during this past summer, LeBron was reportedly sitting on the sidelines. Seeing as how it was his final summer before he becomes a free agent in 2018, it made some turn their heads.

As it turns out, LeBron tried to get at least one player to become a Cavalier. It did not work, though, as the player in question turned down King James’ advances with the hopes of becoming an elite player elsewhere.

The Orlando Magic agreed to a three-year deal worth a reported $20 million with Jonathon Simmons over the summer. Simmons was a G-League player who joined San Antonio, flashed some skills, and turned that into a very respectable payday in Orlando.

But before he could put pen to paper with the Magic, the Cavs’ star tried to recruit him. As Simmons explained to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, it did not work, because his goal of becoming “elite” would require going up against LeBron.

“That’s just a part about me: improving and wanting to be better and having a bigger role,” said Simmons, who left Gregg Popovich’s San Antonio Spurs in free agency this past summer in search of greater opportunities and a big payday.

“I expressed that to Pop. I said, ‘I can be good over here, but I can’t be great.’ I want to be able to go against the Kawhis night-in and night-out. I even talked to LeBron James over the phone, and he was like, ‘We want you in Cleveland.’ And I said, ‘No, I want to play against you.’ I want to be able to play against elite guys and be able to, in a couple of years down the line, be just where they are.”

Simmons would have been a tremendous fit in Cleveland — he showed in San Antonio that he’s a versatile perimeter defender who can score sometimes. Instead of becoming a cog in the Cavaliers’ machine, though, he wanted to be a face of the franchise in Orlando. It’s worked out for him so far, as the Magic are sitting at 8-6 and Simmons is averaging a career-high 15 points per game.

You won’t find many people who consider Simmons an elite player, but this shows that you cannot say he doesn’t have the drive to get to that point. Instead of wanting to go for a ring alongside LeBron and the Cavaliers, he decided he wanted to compete against them with the hopes of becoming one of the best basketball players in the world. It’s an ambitious goal for a player who has taken a very unconventional path to the NBA.

(Via Orlando Sentinel)

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