The Philadelphia 76ers just finished up a disappointing 2019-20 season as they were swept in Round 1 on Sunday at the hands of the rival Boston Celtics. This was not the season management envisioned when they made the moves they made in the offseason of 2019.
Now, the blame game is going to be played as there will be a lot of speculation about what is next for this Sixers team and their future.
The biggest question is what comes now for coach Brett Brown who has been on the hot seat all season? Well, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Haynes, his imminent firing will be coming soon.
Haynes:
Within coaching circles, the anticipation is the Sixers will part ways with head coach Brett Brown in the coming days, league sources told Yahoo Sports. His contract runs through the 2021-22 season.
On top of that, Haynes has more details on why Jimmy Butler left the team and took his talents to the Miami Heat the previous offseason. There has always been speculation that Butler and Brown did not have the greatest relationship–and Butler basically confirmed that on JJ Redick’s podcast–but now there are more details emerging.
Haynes reports:
Butler was lukewarm on re-signing with Philly last off-season and the organization was aware, but the Sixers were still prepared to offer him a max contract if he wouldn’t take any recruiting visits, sources said.
Butler did not agree to that stipulation, sources said, and both sides ended up parting ways. Butler was a force for the Sixers and proved to be their finisher down the stretch, but he wasn’t sold that the team was invested in winning, and his leadership style rubbed some the wrong way at times.
Brown didn’t appreciate how outspoken Butler was with his coaching tactics, and Ben Simmons once took issue with a text message Butler sent in a team group chat that instructed Simmons what not to do in an upcoming game against Brooklyn, sources said.
The Sixers definitely made a mistake by letting Butler go. They could definitely use his services at the moment, but at this point, it is water under the bridge. Philadelphia now must move forward and figure out what the future looks like for Brown and the rest of the team and what they do with the current roster. [lawrence-related id=37128,37123,37116]