As the Philadelphia 76ers move forward in this playoff series with the Miami Heat, there are tons of questions that they have to answer and a huge 7-foot hole that they have to figure out how to fill.
Coach Doc Rivers decided to rock with DeAndre Jordan in place of Embiid in Game 1 and the decision backfired a bit. Jordan had a net rating of negative-71.5 in only 17 minutes of playing time per NBA Stats. The Sixers had success with a small-ball lineup, but Rivers went back to Jordan and he said that Philadelphia will continue to go with him.
There have been rumblings in the past that the Sixers could go with Mike D’Antoni in the offseason to replace Rivers. D’Antoni has a lot of Sixers connections due to his time with James Harden and Daryl Morey while with the Houston Rockets.
However, per Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, the Sixers are aligned that Rivers will be their coach moving forward:
Charlotte may be D’Antoni’s best chance to return to the sideline in 2022. He’s been a popular name floated among league personnel as a potential replacement for Doc Rivers in Philadelphia should Rivers or the 76ers decide to change direction at the conclusion of these playoffs. But despite widespread rumblings of Rivers’ intrigue in the Lakers’ opening, and incessant talk of Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey perhaps desiring a different play-caller, the 76ers have maintained that Rivers and team leadership remain aligned about their future together. Rivers’ contract runs through 2024-25 at $8 million per season, which is a hefty price for ownership to swallow.
For all of Rivers’ faults, he has done a terrific job in the 2021-22 season with the Sixers. Philadelphia has dealt with a lot of drama due to the ongoing Ben Simmons saga and all of the injuries and COVID issues that the Sixers have dealt with. Add in the midseason James Harden trade and Rivers has still kept this team moving in the right direction and kept their focus on basketball.
It’s hard to really justify moving on from him if they lose to the No. 1 seed without Joel Embiid. It will be interesting to see what happens with this situation as time moves on.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f5k5xtr64thj7fw2 image=https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[listicle id=63602]
[lawrence-related id=63598,63593,63590]