Hopefully The Sixers Next GM Will Bring Stability
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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — When Bryan Colangelo resigned as the 76ers general manager on Thursday, amid the stormy Twitter burner account controversy involving he and his wife, it meant the team had gone through four general managers in the time Josh Harris and his group bought the franchise in 2011.
Down have gone Edward Stefanski, who Harris inherited, Tony DiLeo, Sam Hinkie and Bryan Colangelo, who quite frankly wasn't very good anyway, leaving Sixers' coach Brett Brown to hold the post on an interim basis.
The next step Harris and the group selecting the next GM will need to do is take a good look at someone who can stabilize this franchise. The Sixers are the brink of their biggest offseason in 20 years.
LeBron James could be a free agent, if he doesn't opt to stay in Cleveland. The Spurs' Kawhi Leonard could be traded. Oklahoma City's Paul George is another prime free agent.
None of them would have arrived in Philadelphia had Bryan Colangelo stayed. Now with this mess behind them, a general manager with experience and an amicable, workable personality, something that Bryan Colangelo didn't seem to have, could place the Sixers as a prime destination again.
One major name being dangled about is former Cleveland GM David Griffin, who is credited with luring James back to Cleveland and building the Cavaliers' 2016 NBA championship team, acquiring players like Kevin Love. When Griffin and Cavs' owner Dan Gilbert could not come to a contract agreement, Griffin left.
Another possibility is Chauncey Billups, who turned down the Cavs' offer to replace Griffin, because he didn't feel the "timing was right."
The Sixers, however, may have a prime candidate within their own organization. He's smart, knows the game, has strong basketball contacts and connections throughout the college basketball world and that's Elton Brand, who on August 28, 2017 was named general manager of the NBA G League Delaware Blue Coats.
Whoever the Sixers name as their next GM, he'll hopefully be able to stay longer than three years, which is what Hinkie served from 2013 to 2016.
Hopefully, the new GM hire will add some stability to a position that has received more attention and created more drama than needed.
