May 05, 2016
At his introductory press conference, Bryan Colangelo was asked if he felt bringing more traditional “basketball people” into the Sixers front office was necessary.
“Based on what I know, I think it’s probably important to add some but I’m not sure to what extent,” Colangelo said. “I really do want to speak to the individuals involved and I’ve been impressed by some of what I heard and some of what I read about. I do know Sam [Hinkie] well, and I have talked to him about some of this in the past.”
After those talks, Colangelo is starting to reshape the front office. How big the shakeup is still remains to be seen, but as expected, the Sixers new president of basketball operations is making a couple of his own hires for key positions:
• Marc Eversley has been hired as vice president of player personnel.
• Ned Cohen has been hired as associate vice president and chief of staff.
• Brandon Williams has been promoted to vice president of basketball administration.
“Marc’s distinguished eye for talent along with his ability to relate to and connect with players has set him apart in such an important sector of the industry," Colangelo said in a press release. "Ned’s overall knowledge of the league, his expertise on a wide range of topics, and his ability to manage high-level issues will be very beneficial to our management team.”
It had long been rumored that Washington Wizards executive Eversley, who worked with Colangelo in Toronto, would be coming to Philly in a very important position. After the team interviewed Eversley last week, that is in fact the case. USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt had the news first.
With the Sixers, Eversley will oversee the scouting department. Prior to joining the Raptors in 2006, he had worked at Nike for over a decade. In Toronto, Eversley was an assistant general manager working under Colangelo.
In a move that wasn't nearly as anticipated, the Sixers hired a mystery man from the league office (Cohen) that seems to at least have the Woj seal of approval:
Sources: Ned Cohen, NBA's Assoc. VP of Basketball Operations, joining 76ers front office in high-ranking basketball job. Significant coup.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) May 5, 2016
Cohen's been one of most respected minds in basketball ops around league, seen as a possible future GM. Innovative hire for Bryan Colangelo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) May 5, 2016
It’s difficult to find much information about Cohen after a quick Google search, quite an accomplishment. A New York Times article from 2015 suggests that Cohen’s responsibilities in the league office, where he has worked since 2004, included dealing with the NCAA during the pre-draft process. With the Sixers, he will be "the primary liaison for all interdepartmental planning, coordination and communication," whatever that means.
Kiki Vandeweghe on Ned Cohen, Sixer hire from league office: "Ned is a great talent. It's a great choice. He has been invaluable to us."
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) May 5, 2016
Bryan Colangelo has made it clear multiple times that Brett Brown is the coach of the Sixers, and if that is in fact the case, he's at risk of losing the team's associate head coach. From ESPN’s Marc Stein:
Former NBA head coach Mike D'Antoni was in Houston this week interviewing for the Houston Rockets' vacant coaching position, ESPN.com has learned.
Sources told ESPN.com that D'Antoni, currently an associate head coach with the Philadelphia 76ers, spent Wednesday in Houston after the Rockets secured permission from the Sixers to speak with him.
D’Antoni, who made a major impact on the NBA working under Colangelo in Phoenix with Steve Nash and the “seven seconds or less” offense, is part of what Stein terms “a broad, deliberate search” in Houston.
In somewhat related news, a major coaching name hit the open market on Tuesday when the Indiana Pacers decided to part ways with Wildwood native Frank Vogel.
4:15 p.m. edit: MDA will be considered in Indy, too.
VERY early but here's a surprising list of names I'm hearing of possible #Pacers candidates: D'Antoni, Jackson, Shaw, Wittman, Woodson.
— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) May 5, 2016
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
