The Philadelphia 76ers have actually fired coach Brett Brown, the group announced Monday.
Browns dismissal is anticipated to be a precursor for more upheaval for the 76ers, whose senior leadership– including general supervisor Elton Brand– will start checking out modifications in the front-office structure, sources said.
The franchises plan is that Brand will continue to manage basketball operations, sources said, however the personnel and structure in the front workplace is going through significant evaluation and change is looming.
Amongst the Sixers senior management, theres still a strong desire to keep the franchises two young All-Stars– Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons– together, sources said. The Sixers are identified to let a brand-new training personnel look for methods to take full advantage of Embiid and Simmons playing together prior to even entering into a conversation on trade situations.
Brand fulfilled with Brown on Sunday night in Orlando, Florida, and carried out exit interviews with players prior to taking a trip back to Philadelphia on Monday afternoon after the Boston Celtics completed a four-game sweep in the Eastern Conference first-round series. This was the 76ers 3rd straight playoff appearance under Brown, but the loss of Simmons in the seeding games to a knee injury and surgery was a considerable blow to their playoff possibilities.
2 RelatedBrown is still owed a number of million dollars on the remainder of his contract.
” I have a significant level of regard for Brett both personally and professionally and value all hes done for the 76ers organization and the City of Philadelphia,” Brand said in a statement. “He did lots of positive things throughout his time here, developing young talent and helping position our group for 3 straight postseason appearances.
” Unfortunately, we fell well except our goals this year and I think it is best to go in a brand-new direction. This will be a crucial offseason for us as we aim to get back on track towards our objective of completing for an NBA champion.”
The Sixers strategy for a head coach will concentrate on LA Clippers assistant Ty Lue, sources stated. Lue won a champion in 2016 as the Cleveland Cavaliers head coach, and his ability to command the respect and challenge of top-level gamers makes him attractive to the Sixers– and others– in this task market.
Another possible candidate the Sixers are expected to determine interest in, sources said: Villanovas two-time nationwide champion coach, Jay Wright.
The search is expected to expand beyond those 2 candidates, however Lue fits the profile of an incredibly restricted swimming pool of candidates with playoff and champion experience who have actually had success training prominent stars.
Brown is a well-respected figure inside and outside the company and credited with shepherding the franchise through the darkness of “The Process” and eventually into Eastern Conference playoff contention. After seven seasons on the job, there was a sense that the company had reached it might with Brown– a choice that he privately expected his superiors to reach except a deep playoff run, sources said.
” In 2013, I was used to lead one of the most remarkable rebuilds in professional sports history,” Brown stated in a statement. “In the past seven years, our coaches and players have evolved and grown, and I have deep gratitude for the 102 gamers I have actually coached.”
Brown likewise thanked the ownership group, previous GM Sam Hinkie and Brand before wishing the franchise well in their “pursuit of an NBA championship.”
The Sixers reached the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2019, losing on a Game 7 buzzer-beater in overtime to the eventual NBA champion Toronto Raptors.
The 76ers made dramatic lineup moves in the past 2 years– including getting and then moving All-Star Jimmy Butler to Miami– and have a payroll and luxury-tax expense projected to be amongst the highest in league history for 2020-2021.
