Inquirer.com – Zurich DR

Author: Gina Mizell

  • Three offseason questions for the Sixers after the hiring of Mike Gansey, starting with Elton Brand

    Three offseason questions for the Sixers after the hiring of Mike Gansey, starting with Elton Brand

    The 76ers’ first major offseason task has been completed, after Mike Gansey was introduced Monday as the new president of basketball operations.

    “It’s just one good decision at a time as far as [creating] change,” said president of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment Bob Myers, who led Gansey’s hiring process.

    Additional obvious offseason checkpoints will be tackled in the coming weeks. The Sixers hold the No. 22 overall pick in the June 23 NBA draft, which was Gansey’s specialty in his previous job as the Cleveland Cavaliers’ general manager. Shortly after that is free agency, which the Sixers are expected to enter with limited financial flexibility with three players on max contracts.

    Yet here are some more subtle questions still lingering following Gansey’s hiring:

    Elton Brand is expected to transition to another role and title with the Sixers.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    What will Elton Brand’s role/title become?

    Brand was not spotted during Gansey’s news conference, evidence of the decision that Brand will not continue as general manager.

    Brand had previously been the front office’s top decision maker, before taking a step back to the No. 2 role when Daryl Morey was hired as president of basketball operations in 2020. Still, Brand was respected inside and outside the organization, and turned down interest from other teams to stay with the Sixers in past years.

    But now Jameer Nelson has been promoted to that No. 2 front office spot, while Brand is expected to transition to another role and title. What exactly will those responsibilities entail? And how visible will he be moving forward?

    Nick Nurse will be back for a fourth season as Sixers coach. Will his coaching staff look any different?Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    Any other changes to the front office or coaching staff?

    The most candid comments during Monday’s media availabilities came from Myers, who said the Sixers need an identity.

    They were mediocre on both ends of the floor in 2025-26, ranking 16th in offensive efficiency (114.3 points per 100 possessions) and 17th in defensive efficiency (114.4 points allowed per 100 possessions) during a 45-37 regular season. Rebounding and three-point shooting were particularly glaring issues, especially during the playoffs.

    It is unlikely that the Sixers can make fixes by immediately overhauling the roster, given how Joel Embiid (32) and Paul George’s (36) ages and health struggles make their max contracts difficult to trade. The best short-term outcome might be that those two former perennial All-Stars play more than the 75 combined games they suited up for during this past regular season, allowing the potential this team flashed during its first-round upset of the Boston Celtics to sustain.

    Mike Gansey ran the Cavaliers’ draft. Now, he must infuse that expertise with the Sixers.

    As far as additional nonplayer personnel changes, it is possible that Gansey does not make any prominent new front office hires for his first season.

    In addition to Nelson’s promotion, vice president of player personnel Prosper Karangwa has agreed to a contract extension, The Inquirer confirmed. Assistant general managers Ned Cohen and Fan-Hal Kuong, plus Delaware Blue Coats general manager Ariana Andonian, got shout outs from Gansey during Monday’s news conference.

    On the coaching staff, Nick Nurse obviously will be back for a fourth season. But are there any possible changes in the assistant ranks to address shortcomings on either end of the floor?

    Last year, for example, Coby Karl did not return (neither did Bobby Jackson, who took an assistant job with the Sacramento Kings). And Mike Longabardi was promoted from Blue Coats head coach to the Sixers’ bench, where he took on defensive responsibilities.

    Job movement from the front office and coaching ranks continues throughout the offseason, and can often be triggered by other teams.

    Mike Gansey says he wants to build a positive work environment with the Sixers.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    How will Gansey establish his culture?

    Gansey’s go-to saying Monday was that he wants “fountains, not drains” — aka people who enhance the work environment instead of suck the life out of it. He wants employees to enjoy coming to the facility, to create alignment through communication and collaboration, and to add players who want to be Sixers.

    The most cynical outsider could define those words as workplace culture jargon. And shifting that in a meaningful way is a challenge with this organization, which has a reputation of instability, at best. One could argue that always stems from the top — no matter who is in key basketball leadership roles — and ownership has not changed.

    Still, it will be interesting to monitor how Gansey aims to set his organizational tone in these initial months. Do things feel tangibly different with young players around for much of the summer, then when everybody reconvenes for informal workouts and training camp?

  • Mike Gansey ran the Cavaliers’ draft. Now, he must infuse that expertise with the Sixers.

    Mike Gansey ran the Cavaliers’ draft. Now, he must infuse that expertise with the Sixers.

    When asked about his strengths as a leader, new 76ers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey mostly provided generic examples during Monday’s introductory news conference.

    He called himself a “connector” who can build relationships with players, agents, and staffers at all levels of the organization. He said he managed the Cleveland Cavaliers’ day-to-day front office operations as the general manager under that team’s president of basketball operations, Koby Altman. Gansey added that he believed in creating “alignment” throughout the whole Sixers’ facility, along with a positive work environment.

    Perhaps the one tangible responsibility Gansey revealed about his time in Cleveland?

    “I ran the draft,” he said.

    Jameer Nelson wants to be ‘part of the solution’ for the Sixers. His promotion provides an opportunity to do that ‘at home.’

    Consider it fortuitous timing that this is Gansey’s first roster-building checkpoint with the Sixers. They have the 22nd overall pick on June 23, which was acquired in the controversial Jared McCain trade executed by former lead executive Daryl Morey. Now, Gansey will aim to blend in with a group of front-office executives who have already done significant prospect evaluation — and “drafted really, really well” in past years, he said — while infusing his own expertise.

    “I’m excited to learn from them,” Gansey said, “and, obviously, put my vision and put my imprint on the draft. … We’re going to dive into that the next two weeks, and try to get the best person and player for the Sixers.”

    This year’s draft is not as high-profile as when the Sixers selected VJ Edgecombe, who instantly became a standout rookie, third overall last summer. Still, there is a sense of urgency less than two weeks before this selection.

    Gansey’s first task, according to Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment president Bob Myers, is getting his bearings with a Sixers front office that still features continuity even with former general manager Elton Brand expected to transition into a new role and title. Jameer Nelson was elevated to executive vice president of basketball operations, while vice president of player personnel Prosper Karangwa agreed to a contract extension, The Inquirer confirmed. Gansey also mentioned assistant general managers Ned Cohen and Fan-Hal Kuong and Blue Coats general manager Ariana Andonian by name during his introductory news conference.

    Mike Gansey made his first appearance as Sixers president of basketball operations during a news conference on Monday.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Myers said Gansey must learn nuances such as how much the Sixers lean on analytics in prospect evaluation in comparison to his 15 years working his way up with the Cavaliers, or how much input scouts and coach Nick Nurse will have. And though Myers added that the Sixers will explore possible trades for the pick, “usually you end up drafting, [that’s] the truth,” he said.

    “It’s really getting an understanding,” Myers said of Gansey’s approach, “of, ‘OK, we did it this way in Cleveland. How do you guys do it?’ And working together to this group.”

    The Sixers’ draft picks in recent years include McCain at 16th overall and Adem Bona in the second round in 2024. Recently anointed All-NBA third-teamer Tyrese Maxey went 21st in a bizarre, COVID-impacted 2020 draft, a pick Nelson on Monday acknowledged that, “We got lucky with the person. We got lucky with the player.” When the Sixers had the 23rd pick in 2022, they traded it for DeAnthony Melton, a successful two-way role player when healthy for two seasons.

    “At 22, you want to get a combination of best player available and fit with our roster,” Gansey said when asked about his overall draft philosophy.

    The Mike Gansey era has begun. Where do the Sixers go from here?

    Gansey’s Cleveland draft successes include using the No. 20 pick in 2024 on Jaylon Tyson, who started 42 games this past season and was a tenacious defender against Maxey. The Cavaliers used a second-round pick last year on Tyrese Proctor, a veteran guard on the Cooper Flagg-Kon Knueppel Duke team who then played in 50 games as a rookie for Cleveland. The Cavaliers also signed Dean Wade as an undrafted free agent in 2019, then developed him into a rotation player.

    Since Gansey was preparing to select 29th with the Cavaliers prior to landing the Sixers job, Myers assured that, “It’s not like he’s sitting there going, ‘I don’t know who any of these guys are.’” The new-look front office’s decision that night will then lead into how it approaches free agency, which opens June 30.

    So it was understandable why Gansey was ready to move past the hubbub of Monday’s formal introduction in Philly.

    Because his roster-building specialty awaits.

    “I’m ready to kind of get today over with and go for the draft,” Gansey said, “because we’re two weeks away.”

  • Jameer Nelson wants to be ‘part of the solution’ for the Sixers. His promotion provides an opportunity to do that ‘at home.’

    Jameer Nelson wants to be ‘part of the solution’ for the Sixers. His promotion provides an opportunity to do that ‘at home.’

    During early conversations with Josh Harris and Bob Myers, new 76ers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey asked a version of this question multiple times:

    Can we keep Jameer?

    Can we elevate Jameer?

    News popped Sunday that those inquiries had become reality. Jameer Nelson was promoted to executive vice president of basketball operations, the No. 2 front-office position under Gansey. It continues Nelson’s rise through his hometown NBA organization following a terrific playing career, which on Monday the Chester native and former St. Joseph’s star called “actually a surreal moment.”

    “Six years ago, when I started [with the Sixers], I had no idea where this journey would take me,” Nelson said following Gansey’s introductory news conference at the Sixers’ facility. “Credit to the organization for believing in me … To do it for the home team gives me goosebumps, to be honest with you.

    “I think it’s one of the things that people take for granted: when you can actually help out an organization but, more importantly, do it at home.”

    Mike Gansey plans to build around Sixers’ current core while growing the team’s culture: ‘I want fountains, not drains’

    Nelson was reportedly the primary internal candidate for the top job that went to Gansey, following a search spearheaded by Myers, the president of sports for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and former lead executive during the Golden State Warriors’ dynasty. When asked about the process that ultimately resulted in Nelson’s promotion from assistant general manager, he said, “It was fun, and it’s always good to be wanted.”

    Vice president of player personnel Prosper Karangwa also attended Monday’s news conference, after The Inquirer confirmed Sunday that he had agreed to a multi-year contract extension. Fellow assistant general manager Ned Cohen and Delaware Blue Coats general manager Ariana Andonian also were present. Not spotted: Elton Brand, who is expected to transition to a new role and title after stints as the Sixers’ top front office decision-maker and as general manager under former president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, who was fired May 12.

    That all makes Nelson the prime example of front office continuity — he fielded questions about Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe and Joel Embiid on Monday — and deep local roots. Nelson considers himself “Philadelphia adopted,” idolizing Charles Barkley, Allen Iverson, and Kobe Bryant before his own successful career.

    Nelson’s understanding of the current roster, city’s passionate fan base, and media scrutiny also was valuable to Myers.

    “He has that equity with our players and the community,” Myers said.

    Jameer Nelson talks with guard VJ Edgecombe before Game 2 of the second-round playoff series against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on May 6.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    The Sixers went 45-37 during the 2025-26 regular season, came back from a three-games-to-one deficit to upset the Boston Celtics in the playoffs’ first round, then were swept by the Finals-bound New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. They also face an immediately challenging roster setup, with Maxey and Edgecombe forming a dynamic young backcourt, but Embiid and fellow injury-plagued veteran Paul George still on max contracts for multiple seasons.

    As Nelson’s 14-year NBA playing career wound down, he initially thought he would become a coach. Instead, Brand hired Nelson as a Sixers scout, before being elevated to general manager of the G League-affiliate Blue Coats. Collaborating with players and coaches in that role “[quenched] my thirst for coaching,” Nelson said, while he learned how to lead all aspects of a professional organization.

    He was promoted to Sixers assistant general manager last year. Myers noticed that Morey empowered Nelson in that position, and regularly sent him on road trips to interact with returning coach Nick Nurse. Nelson added that an unnamed “former co-worker ‘above me’ in title” challenged that, if Nelson did not make that superior better, he had “failed.”

    Mike Gansey’s career started in Cleveland. Here’s how that experience will inform his role as Sixers president of basketball operations.

    “My voice was bigger,” Nelson said of his role this past season. “Ultimately, I always had the confidence to know who I am. But it just gave me more confidence when I had a project, and I was able to accomplish the goal. …

    “You don’t have to be ‘ready.’ You have to be prepared. I’ll look at it like that: Just be prepared for everything to figure things out, and help the group make the right decision.”

    Nelson acknowledged Monday that, in past years, he has received job interest from other teams. But he wants to be “part of the solution here” and feels “responsibility to help this organization move forward.”

    Gansey understands that connection to the Sixers and Philly because of past college battles, when Gansey’s St. Bonaventure teams went 0-2 against Nelson’s St. Joseph’s squads. That is a reason why, when Gansey landed his new gig, it was “kind of a sticking point” that Nelson also received this promotion.

    “I think I got the win now,” Gansey said. “Got him on my side.”