The Philadelphia 76ers appear to have their list of coaching candidates down to just two people in Tyronn Lue and Mike D’Antoni. Both coaches have a lot of success in the NBA going deep into the playoffs and they have their own coaching style.
As their coaching search continues to go on, D’Antoni is a name that has seemed to pick up steam lately. He was an assistant under former coach Brett Brown in the 2015-16 season before leaving to coach the Houston Rockets so he is familiar with a few guys on this roster, specifically, Joel Embiid.
The Sixers did say that they would consult both Embiid and Ben Simmons for their input in the coaching search- which makes sense considering they’re the two best players -and it appears that at least Embiid has signed off to general manager Elton Brand on hiring D’Antoni.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey, this appears to be the case as he reports:
Now, word is leaking out that Brand is pushing hard for the Sixers to hire D’Antoni and that Joel Embiid gave his blessing. In addition, there are reports that the Sixers will make trades if D’Antoni is hired. The expectation is that he’ll have a say in picking players for his freewheeling style of play.
If the Sixers are to hire D’Antoni, it is an interesting choice. As mentioned before, his style of coaching does not exactly fit this roster. He wants to run and shoot a bunch of threes while Philadelphia has more of a traditional look and they do not possess many shooters. Moves would have to come after that to make it work.
Also, Brand was adamant in his press conference in August that he is the one who will lead the coaching search. He also mentioned that the collaborative days within the front office did not work and that he wants to get the Sixers back on the right track. If the team does in fact hire D’Antoni, then all eyes will be on Brand to see if he made the right choice here. [lawrence-related id=37858,37849,37846]