The 76ers Have Their Coach, But Still Need to Make More Moves
In the several weeks since Brett Brown’s firing, Sixers fans and basketball experts have been looking through the endless coaching candidates available and wonder who would be best suited to clean up the current mess in Philadelphia. That head coaching search however became much easier when one of the most respected head coaches in the NBA was suddenly available.
In what feels like only hours since his departure from the Clippers, Doc Rivers has quickly agreed to become the next head coach of the 76ers. The fact that Rivers became a free agent coach at all is astounding because just a few weeks ago it looked like he was going to lead the next potential dynasty in Los Angeles. The Clippers held on to Rivers through thick and thin including an ownership change and the end of the LOB City Era. But things looked to be turning towards sunshine and rainbows when Los Angeles managed to trade a ton of draft capital for Paul George and signed reigning NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard.
For the historically bad Clippers the stage was set for them to at least make their first conference finals appearance in a half century against their crosstown rivals the Lakers. Instead, the Clippers became the Clippers and blew a 3-1 series lead to the Denver Nuggets. Just like that and Kawhi Leonard went from potentially the best player in the NBA to almost a fraud, and Paul George turned his self-titled nickname Playoff P into the basketball equivalent of Playoff Kershaw. With a loss that devastating, Steve Balmer and the Clippers turned Doc Rivers into the scapegoat and just a few days later he’s the head coach of the Sixers.
Obviously fans are going to be concerned with Rivers’s track record in the playoffs having blown not one, not two, but THREE 3-1 postseason series leads as a head coach. Not leading either the LOB City or Kawhi/George Clippers to a conference finals will also be pointed out because that’s a round Sixers fans desperately want to reach.
Even with that track record, Rivers is still a great hire for the Sixers. He is a Championship winning head coach who beloved around the entire league. His presence in the Sixers locker room alone will garner respect, the kind of presence that didn’t exist with Brett Brown. He’s managed plenty of teams with big egos from Tracy McGrady, to the Big 3 Celtics, to Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and the rest of the team will most likely listen to him because Rivers will probably get the most out of them.
That being said, hiring Doc Rivers isn’t the only move the Sixers have to make. As we’ve seen with the Phillies, hiring an experienced and championship winning manager will not be enough to fix everything. As Mike Ehrmantraut taught us in Breaking Bad: “No half measures.” Elton Brand probably should have left with Brett Brown after the season ended, but it looks like he will be still running the team for now. If Brand is to stay then he needs to let go of the assistants who worked with Bryan Colangelo and hire his own, perhaps even getting some allies of Doc Rivers.
They need to find a way to get rid of their bloated contracts and develop a stronger team chemistry that will actually make them competitive in the stacked Eastern conference. And for once, can they please draft and develop a player who will be healthy physically and mentally and can actually play most minutes and games in a season? Can they please evaluate prospects and players who recognize how much they can contribute to the team? Because too often during The Process Era the Sixers got players who contributed nothing, some gave less than nothing.
In short, today is a good day for the Sixers, the first good day they’ve had in awhile. But this needs to be just the beginning. The organization needs to act just as bold and aggressive to show they are about getting this team back on track. Remember, no half measures.