Brett Brown may be coaching to keep his job as the Sixers face the Raptors in Game 7 tomorrow, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times. Stein states that Brown “has little chance of surviving a second-round exit” and likely needs to reach the NBA Finals to avoid being fired.
Philadephia took two big roster gambles this season, trading for Jimmy Butler in November and Tobias Harris in February. Both will be free agents this summer, along with J.J. Redick, and it appears the front office won’t forgive Brown if the team doesn’t win big right away.
Brown’s first sign of trouble came just before the opening-round series against the Nets when managing partner Josh Harris sidestepped an opportunity to give him a vote of confidence. Harris responded to a question on the topic by saying the entire organization has “high expectations.”
A coaching change would be a costly move for the Sixers, who gave Brown a three-year extension last May. However, that decision was made by former president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo, who left the team a week later after an incident involving Twitter burner accounts.
Brown, 58, has been the head coach in Philadelphia since the 2013/14 season, surviving a lot of lean years during “The Process” as the team lost big to accumulate assets. He has led the Sixers to 52 and 51 wins the past two seasons, along with a second-round playoff loss last year.
Of course … management made the “roster gambles” which failed and who takes the blame … Brett Brown. Maybe they can get Tyrone Lue
Why would you want Tyrone Lue?
IMO, I think Harris and Butler leave.
Keep Butler and Brown. Get rid of Harris and Simmons.
If management fires Brett Brown after how successfully he has handled this complicated constantly changing roster full of big personalities the Sixers don’t deserve to be good. The Sixers were underdogs in this series and have had problems with Embiid and his health which has hurt them. They also have no bunch. I REALLY would like to see who they think is out there who can do a better job.
IDK what “They also have no bunch” means but I feel like I agree with it.
Did you hear Rondo in the pregame say Philly has no chemistry?– that their players are not happy when someone else scores.
I wouldn’t say it’s in “jeopardy” but it does make the leash for next year seen tighter. He was there for the bad years and everybody to Embrace The Tank, I just don’t see him being let go due to the fact none of these coaching names are better than him. Sure, you always want to see “what’s out there” but grass ain’t always greener.
That organization is a joke. Sure, Brown has his flaws as a play caller but I can’t blame him for what we’re seeing right now. Their best player has only showed up for two games in the entire playoffs! To be in a game seven of the second round dealing with all of the crap he’s had to deal with is pretty impressive.
Didn’t this dude basically run the front office for them while coaching for a period of time? I understand that’s what doc brown did for a while but you don’t just change coaches on a guy committed more than anyone.
Stick to the Knicks and Nets Marc
Ben simmons aint good bottomline. Trying to promote him likes hes the next lebron and puts up 6 points a game in the playoffs lmao, and he cant shoot. Move on from him and build a real team. Resign both harris and butler and and trade simmons for something of value. His production can be replaced by rondo….
Really???
I can’t think of anything stupider than expecting a team to win a championship after just being assembled 3 months ago. It took the Heat and Warriors both over a year of continuity.
^ That.
Ben Simmons is how old? They already cut bait on Fultz. They better not get rid of Simmons. Just because he’s not Magic or LeBron at this point is nothing. He still puts up amazing numbers. I’m just afraid if they cut Brown loose, what will pending free agents think or new coming players?
Amazing numbers when? The regular season? There’s no sport that has a less relevant regular season than the NBA. Where the real numbers happen are in the half court game in the playoffs in which he has NOTHING to offer. He’s a decent defender, I’ll give him that. But if the ball isn’t in his hands, then he’s just stands around with them in his pocket. Not only can’t he shoot, he’s afraid to! He’s best at driving the lane and taking it to the rim but he can’t do that either because he’s afraid of getting fouled because he can’t freakin shoot! Defenses sag off on him and he becomes a liability for the rest of his team because everyone else’s shot closes down.
Even if his game was perfect it doesn’t change the fact that his game doesn’t mesh with Embiids. They’re too similar. The pieces don’t fit. The sixers need to stop jamming a square peg into a round hole and move one of them and they’d be crazy to move Embiid.
15 pts 8 trb and 6.9 ast in 4 playoff series isn’t too shabby for a guy that can’t shoot.
Sure trade him, you’d net ever teams 1st or 2nd best player outside of GSW. Everyone that says trade Ben Simmons is talking out their Brown hole. Acting like they list the series, game is played tomorrow.
Fultz is an entirely separate and unrelated ordeal.
The underlying issue: lose to Toronto and you’re fired. There are still too many American media outlets and voices that simply disregard the Raps because they’re a Canadian team. Calling for a guy’s job because he didn’t win a championship with a team he’s had for less than a year. Unreal expectation.
I wonder what’s going on with the Sixers, and if these words are planted, to be heard by the players… to remind the team to play for the coach, not for Simmons or Embiid, who has to be ticking off his teammates right now.
IDK what would motivate or heal Embiid, maybe a notice in Stein’s piece, to make it all be about something besides Embiid, to Embiid.
But there’s something going on with them. Duh.