The Philadelphia 76ers have fired Brett Brown, and he owns his fair share of the franchise's disappointment over the past three years.
The Process didn't make progress: Brown's pregame playoff speeches couldn't motivate a pebble. He never established an identity on either end of the floor. He didn't hold players accountable, and he never established clear roles for his players.
Ultimately, he never maximized the talent that was on his roster. Those are the words of his own players, as well as coaching legend Larry Brown.
But the Sixers' issues stem higher than their head coach. Philadelphia's roster is flawed. That much falls on GM Elton Brand.
In a league that prioritizes the 3-point shot, the Sixers rank in the bottom 10 in attempts and 19th in makes. Ben Simmons is a generational talent, but his talents are best served on a floor spaced by shooters.
Instead of addressing those needs, Brand signed Celtics center Al Horford to a $100 million deal and re-signed Tobias Harris to a five-year, $180 million contract.
It was curtains from then on.
Brand and the Sixers chose to pay Horford and Harris nearly $300 million instead of giving Jimmy Butler a five-year max deal. Butler went to the Miami Heat, who swept the Indiana Pacers out of the first round. The Sixers were on the other end of the broom, getting swept in their first-round series against the Boston Celtics.
Butler functioned as the Sixers' second point guard, and the franchise should have given him the five-year max deal he made it clear he wanted in Minnesota. Instead of replacing Butler _ a two-way playmaker and bona fide winner _ with another play-maker, Brand signed Horford, a veteran mentor who plays the same position as Joel Embiid.
Horford is a terrible fit next to Philadelphia's star center. He and Embiid have the worst net rating of any two Sixers to play at least 470 minutes together this season. Brand said in his Tuesday press conference that the Sixers "need more basketball minds" in the front office.
Didn't a basketball mind construct this roster?
Here's where the Sixers went wrong: Kemba Walker was a free agent last summer. So was Kyrie Irving. So were Malcolm Brogdon and Terry Rozier. Brand _ a top-25-or-so power forward of all time _ prioritized front court players instead of back court.
The NBA is a guard-driven league; LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the exceptions that prove the rule. The Sixers' best option at the lead guard role was Shake Milton. Even if Simmons was healthy for their playoff run, Philadelphia was destined for a first-round exit at the hands of the Celtics.
The Sixers would have had a totally different dynamic had they put a true point guard next to Simmons, Embiid and even next to Harris. But instead of pursuing a legitimate point guard and having the foresight to move Simmons to power forward at the beginning of the season, the Sixers put one lumbering big in Horford next to another in Embiid, next to an All-Star point guard who can't shoot _ next to Harris, a third or fourth option on a championship team at best.
The Sixers best four players enjoy operating out of the low or high post. That's not good basketball. The eye test and the analytics agree.
Brand and the Sixers will have an opportunity to right their wrong. A grand slam would have been adding Walker last summer. Here's a home run idea: Trade for Chris Paul.
Paul has single-handedly revitalized an Oklahoma City Thunder franchise many expected to miss the playoffs this season. Instead, they are tied 2-2 in their first-round series against the Houston Rockets. They have overperformed, and Paul should be a candidate for NBA's Most Valuable Player for his role in their success.
The Thunder are nearly ready to turn the keys over to their budding star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Paul, 35, won't win a championship in Oklahoma City _ the Lakers, Clippers and Mavericks have something to say about that. But if he isn't traded in a deal to join LeBron James in Los Angeles, the Sixers make sense.
Philadelphia owns Oklahoma City's first-round pick in this year's draft. They also own each of their own first-rounders in the draft classes that follow. The Thunder want draft capital: They traded Russell Westbrook and Paul George to the Rockets and Thunder, respectively, for the largest haul of draft assets in NBA history.
They also are on the hook to pay an aging Paul $41 million next season and $44 million the season after that.
The Sixers might need to rope in a third team: Harris is a fine player but has holes in his game that invalidate the $180 million deal he signed. Horford is also a fine player, but the contract is egregious and the fit alongside Embiid does not exist, and Paul's value is as high as it's been in years. Oklahoma City isn't giving him up for nothing.
Harris may make sense, but he can still be a productive player on a championship team.
Horford could be a piece that puts a team like the Sacramento Kings over the hump. It doesn't matter what third team the Sixers deal with: They need to find one, one willing to part ways with draft assets and re-route them to the Thunder.
Here's why: The Sixers have no cap space to sign free agents aside from their mid-level exception, and star point guards are rarely available via trade. Another option is a deal with the Hornets for Rozier, but the drop-off in talent, and playoff pedigree, from Paul to Rozier is palpable.
Philadelphia will also have to replace Brown as head coach, and they have been linked to Tyronn Lue, the Clippers assistant who is also considered a lead candidate for the Nets job. Here's another option: Why not go hire Jeff Van Gundy?
Van Gundy has history making contenders out of star centers. The Knicks' last Golden Era was under JVG, when he led Patrick Ewing, John Starks and company to an NBA Finals appearance. He was also head coach of the Houston Rockets, and put Yao Ming in position to be one of the league's most dominant big men of all time.
Embiid, when healthy, is the most dominant big man in the NBA. He is a two-way play-maker _ a bully on both ends of the floor.
Embiid's window, however, will only be open for as long as his body holds up.
Brand says he wants more basketball minds on the Sixers, and Van Gundy, who has been an analyst for ESPN for years, fits the bill.
Maybe that's how Sixers can right this ship. It's already capsizing, and with Brown out, Brand is the captain.
