By Zack Rosenblatt | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Now that the NBA Draft is finally over, the Sixers organization can turn its attention to one of the most important off-seasons in franchise history.

There's a lot up in the air, and many possibilities, most of which center around the Sixers attempting to bring in a star to complement the core of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.

There are many more decisions to made than that, though.

Here are 12 storylines to keep an eye on going forward this off-season.

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2018 NBA Draft: Team-by-team grades

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Daniel Gallen | PennLive

Hire a general manager

Although Sixers coach Brett Brown proved himself more adept than is generally expected for coaches who double as general manager, the Sixers still plan to hire an actual full-time general manager at some point.

Ideally that happens soon, though they don't seem to be in a rush.

Ex-Cavaliers general manager David Griffin reported something about the Sixers on a radio show, which would seem strange for someone theoretically jockeying to work for the Sixers.

If the Sixers are considering candidates working for other organizations — such as non-general managers like Celtics' Mike Zarren or Rockets' Gersson Rosas — it's unclear how that might impact the timeline.

If it's someone who is unemployed — a la Griffin or ex-Hornets GM Rich Cho — it can happen at anytime. Or, if it's an internal hire — Marc Eversley, Ned Cohen — there would be no rush.

In an off-season with plans to pursue a star (more on that soon) it'd behoove the Sixers to move quicker, though it's obviously important to make the right hire

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Markelle Fultz in Summer League?

The Summer League will begin very soon — beginning of July — and there's at least two questions looming over the proceedings. Let's focus on the big one first — Will Markelle Fultz participate?

Brown has indicated he's unsure as of yet, but last year's No. 1 overall pick only played in 14 games, in which he was a reserve and only attempted one total three-pointer. His strange season is well-documented.

He's working with famed shooting coach Drew Hanlen this off-season to fix his shot.

Will he debut that in Summer League?

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Jonah Bolden

The other question — will 2017 second-round pick Jonah Bolden come over?

The Sixers drafted and stashed Bolden in Israel last year and Bolden made it apparent that he's going to be an intriguing NBA player, a sort of do-it-all, 6-foot-10 forward/center who can stretch it out to the perimeter, rebound and pass the ball quite well for a big.

He has a yet to sign a contract, but he's expected to come over. That might start with Summer League.

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Tony Dejak | AP

LeBron James

The topic on everyone's mind, of course, centers around the league's best player.

LeBron James will decide soon whether to exercise or decline a $35 million player option to remain with the Cavaliers. There's an outside chance he does that and runs it back with Cleveland one more time, who could potentially try to flip Kevin Love elsehwere to improve the roster.

If he declines, the Sixers and Lakers come to the forefront of all James discussions, and the Sixers are doing everything they can to clear enough cap space to sign him outright to a max contract.

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Kawhi Leonard

Brown's trade with the Suns on Thursday night — acquiring rookie Zhaire Smith and the Heat's 2021 first-round pick — might have just been Brown doing a Hinkie-style asset accumulation. The immediate intention is unclear, though this could all be part of a greater package to acquire Spurs superstar Kawhi Leonard.

The All-Star wants out and has multiple connections to the Sixers organization — including via Brown, who coached him in San Antonio. Of course, rumors persist that Leonard prefers to play in Los Angeles and might not re-sign anywhere else before becoming a 2019 free agent. That'll be an interesting saga, to say the least.

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Jerryd Bayless

In order to have enough cap space to sign James (or Paul George) outright, the Sixers will have to find a team willing to take Jerryd Bayless' contract off their hands, as he's set to earn $8.5 million next season and is a non-factor and bad player.

If they can't work out a trade, another option would be using the stretch provision on Bayless and spreading his salary out over three seasons, though that wouldn't quite be enough cap clearance for James. This needs to happen sooner than later, as free agency begins on July 1.

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Trade for someone else?

If the Sixers strike out with Leonard, James and/or George, another avenue to acquire talent could be via trade. Would the Sixers rather wait another year to pursue a free agent next year or try and speed up the process now and trade away assets for somebody?

Some players who could potentially become available via trade include Raptors' DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, Blazers' C.J. McCollum, Hornets' Kemba Walker, Cavaliers' Kevin Love, Mavericks' Harrison Barnes and Wesley Matthews, Rockets' Eric Gordon, Pacers' Myles Turner, Clippers' Tobias Harris, Lakers' Brandon Ingram, Heat's Justise Winslow, Bucks' Eric Bledsoe and Hawks' Dennis Schroder.

Of that group, only a few would actually be worth pursuing: McCollum at the top of the list. Walker, Matthews, Bledsoe and Harris are on expiring contracts. Ingram is an intriguing young talent. Love, Lowry and DeRozan are All-Stars, but on expensive long-term contracts.

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Maddie Meyer | Getty

JJ Redick

The Sixers' decision on Redick, an unrestricted free agent, might not come until LeBron James or Paul George make their decision. By then, it's entirely possible it's too late, too, if he gets a lucrative offer elsewhere. He was a valuable commodity for the Sixers last year and would be welcomed back, but it just won't be at $23 million salary and there might not be space anymore if James signs.

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Non-star free agents?

If the Sixers ultimately don't sign either James or George, they'll have a boatload of cap space and roster holes to fill. There are other All-Stars who could potentially become available, but they all either don't fit — DeMarcus Cousins, DeAndre Jordan — or wouldn't sign with the Sixers anyway (Chris Paul).

If that happens, the Sixers will likely (or should) pursue free agents on one-year contracts to maintain cap felxibility for next year, as they did last summer with JJ Redick and Amir Johnson.

In addition to Redick, some intriguing options for that include: Derrick Favors, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Trevor Ariza, Aaron Gordon (restricted), Jabari Parker (restricted), Wayne Ellington, Alex Len, Nerlens Noel, Mario Hezonja, Marcus Smart (restricted), Will Barton, Tyreke Evans, Luc Mbah a Moute, Rodney Hood (restricted), Kevon Looney, Kyle O'Quinn, Dante Exum (restricted) and Joe Harris.

Thaddeus Young and Danny Green (both have player options) would also be interesting, and the Sixers could also bring Marco Belinelli and/or Ersan Ilyasova back.

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Marco Belinelli

Even though Belinelli was acquired as a free agent after the trade deadline, he still became the Sixers' sixth man. It was a roller coaster.

Belinelli is fine as a shooter off the bench who plays in spurts. He shouldn't be your sixth man. If the Sixers can build their bench better this year — having a healthy Fultz would help — Belinelli would be a fine signing as an end-of-the-bench veteran on a cheap deal.

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Ersan Ilyasova

Ilyasova with the Sixers in 2016-17 was a player who just wanted to shoot every time he touched the ball and wasn't particularly helpful on defense.

With a winning Sixers team this year, he played better within the offense and was better than expected on defense, occasionally even filling in at center.

He'd be a good player to bring back into the fold on a cheap deal.

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Amir Johnson

Johnson signed for far more than his market value — one year, $11 million — last year, but the Sixers did that in order to make sure they secured him as a back-up center. If he's willing to sign for much cheaper — as in, veteran's minimum — he'd be fine to bring back. Otherwise, they can do better than Johnson as a backup center.

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Zack Rosenblatt may be reached at zrosenblatt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZackBlatt. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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