The Philadelphia 76ers have undergone a lot of different changes since their Round 1 sweep at the hands of the Boston Celtics back in August. They have brought in a new President of Basketball Operations, a new coach, and a variety of changes up and down the front office.
Due to the abbreviated offseason, the concern is that these changes will cause issues when it comes to the major offseason moves the team was destined to make. With the NBA draft up first, there was a school of thought that maybe the decision would come down to Daryl Morey and Elton Brand and there would be no input from anybody else.
However, Vice President of Scouting Vince Rozman says that has not been the case so far.
“I think it’s been great, honestly,” said Rozman. “There’s not a newness. It feels as we’re arguing through concepts or players, it feels like we have been in the room together years already. I think Daryl’s very eager to learn from people and get their opinions to utilize his staff and form his own opinion. I’m excited going forward. I think the rapport has been awesome. It’s been a fun experience.”
That is a good thing to hear if you’re a Sixers fan. Not only are Morey and Doc Rivers here, but there are also big changes such as bringing in Peter Dinwiddie as the new Executive Vice President and Prosper Karangwa as VP of Player Personnel. Both Dinwiddie and Karangwa figure to be involved in a lot of the basketball decisions for this team.
There have been obvious challenges right now. The team is undergoing a lot of these changes while also going through a global pandemic that changes the way a lot of people do things. However, the work that the scouting department has done over the past few weeks has allowed the Sixers to be ready for the offseason despite the challenges.
“I think the challenge is what we’ve all faced over these last few months,” Rozman added. “It’s like how do you deal with COVID? Our scouting staff is still remote. Our coaching staff is just trickling in now because we’re trying to keep the building clean. I think we’re exceedingly prepared. The scouts have been on these guys for the draft forever now and I think we’ve been able to get deeper on guys that time has ever permitted before. To have the knowledge to be able to relay that to any new people that come in the building like we’re ready to go.” [lawrence-related id=39130,39127,39124]