“We feel that the collaborative days didn’t work too well, so I will be leading this search.”
“I’m looking forward to putting my stamp on this roster and take full accountability for what happens next.”
These two quotes were the most revealing information Elton Brand communicated at his press conference last Tuesday.
When Elton Brand was hired, the only professional general manager experience he had was one year with the 76ers G-League affiliate, the Delaware 87ers. At Brand’s introductory press conference Sixers owner, Josh Harris stated decisions would be made with a “collaborative” approach. That collaborative approach has gotten the Sixers where they are now. Undoubtedly, there were too many voices in the room.
With a rookie general manager, it’s understandable that Josh Harris would want to surround Brand with veteran minds, but keeping the same voices from a previous regime in place makes almost no sense. Compound that with the fact that those same voices still garnered the same amount of say, if not more, than Brand and you have a recipe for disaster (aka swept in the first round by a rival).
According to Brand he now has full control.
Currently, the biggest story surrounding the 76ers is the coaching vacancy, however if the same voices are still in the front office, what changes? Draft targets, trade targets, and free agency targets are all influenced by voices in the front office. It is absolutely paramount that the Sixers revamp the front office makeup. It is widely known that the Sixers implore one of the more analytically centered approaches in the league, from a front office standpoint. However, the question of when does it become too much.
At some point traditional basketball philosophy has to come into play. Brand is aware of this. “We’re strong in our strategic and analytic standpoint, but we could get some more basketball minds in here.” Analytics in sports is somewhat of the current big thing. However, it’s important to not let it be the only thing when making decisions and Brand understands this. Brand’s stamp will be seen and his voice will operate the controls for the Sixers organization.
This offseason will be the dawn of a new era is Sixers basketball. Change is coming and Elton Brand will be at the forefront. Of course, with him at the forefront, the team’s success or failure will be placed at his feet. Taking Brand at face-value, it’s all on him. Welcome to the Elton Brand show.
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