NOVEMBER 11: Nelson’s hiring is now official, with the Delaware Blue Coats announcing he has joined the team as its assistant general manager and will also assist the 76ers in their scouting efforts.
OCTOBER 21: Former NBA point guard Jameer Nelson is poised to join the Sixers‘ front office, according to John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia, who hears from sources that the 76ers are hiring Nelson as a scout and as the assistant GM of the Delaware Blue Coats, Philadelphia’s G League affiliate.
The 20th overall pick in the 2004 draft, Nelson spent 14 seasons in the NBA, averaging 11.3 PPG and 5.1 APG across 878 regular season contests, earning All-Star honors for the Magic in 2009. He last appeared in the league during the 2017/18 season, when he played a total of 50 games for the Pelicans and Pistons.
About a month before the 2019/20 season began, Nelson said he hadn’t given up on the idea of making an NBA comeback and was putting off retirement for the time being. However, after not catching on with a team over the last year, it sounds like he’s prepared to transition into the next stage of his career.
Nelson’s agreement with the Sixers will represent a homecoming of sorts for the 38-year-old. Nelson grew up in Chester, Pennsylvania and played his college ball at Saint Joseph’s before going pro.
The Sixers have been making an effort to revamp their front office around general manager Elton Brand this offseason, with Nelson’s hiring representing the latest part of that effort. The team is also bringing aboard Peter Dinwiddie as executive VP of basketball operations and Prosper Karangwa in a key scouting role.
Interesting, but I never fully understood as to why the Sixers never signed Nelson as a player
A worse Kyle Lowry…
Last I checked.Mr. Lowry is not a coach, or an assistant coach. I’ll wait…
watching him and delonte west on that st. joes team was incredible
I love him coming to work for the Sixers. I still remember as a kid watching his great St. Joseph’s team.
Great hire! Class act…I am excited/interested to see how he does in these roles.
Let him run the point. Probably better than what we currently have there! Put Simmons at the four because he can’t shoot from outside.
Who is paul simmons?
It really doesn’t matter where you put Ben…He is that good. Point guard or point forward does not matter he is still the point. On D he matches great 1-4 as good as any one in the league and can switch on to 5’s in limited matchups as well. There is more to playing to point than shooting such as Ben being the best at assisting in 3’s…pretty impressive considering our other 3 or shooters are mediocre. Get some guys who can run with Ben and shoot and you will see his potential.
I agree. They should’ve kept J.J. Need more shooters, if you’re going to run Ben at the point.