April 13, 2019
As the Sixers try to quiet the haters by attempting to improve on last year's surprise run — which would, of course, mean advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals — rumors abound about Philadelphia head coach Brett Brown finding himself on the hot seat.
A skipper suited for The Process days and talented at player development, Brown's decision making, team management and late game coaching have been frustrating for many Sixers fans.
Sixers managing partner Joshua Harris decided to unexpectedly address the media before tip off of Game 1 vs. the Nets Saturday afternoon. He was, of course, asked about the future of Brown and his position with the team.
When Harris was asked if he would be willing to guarantee that Brown would be back in 2019-20, this is what he said:
"We have a lot of confidence in Brett," he said. "We’re focused on the Nets."
Hmm. Could be better, could be worse.
Of course, what logical human being would throw their head coach under the bus just an hour before the playoffs started?
Logic will likely prevail here, as the performance of Brown over the next few week will be the determining factor on whether he lasts the length of his contract.
Harris also touched on one other interesting thing of note: he was hopeful that Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris, and J.J. Redick would return next year.
"I'm hopeful that they'll be playing with us for a long, long time," he said.
The trio are free agents to-be, and will likely be able to get lucrative deals elsewhere. The way the Sixers' salary cap is currently constructed, it would make sense for all of them to return, or for just one of them to return, as the squad may want to take the money it could cost to retain Redick and spend it, with the cap space from a departure of either Butler or Harris, to go after another max-type deal.
No answers on the future of the Sixers' players or coaches, though, will be made until we see how good this team — which has played exactly 10 times together totally healthy — can be.
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