The Philadelphia 76ers and general manager Elton Brand are in the process of finalizing a multi-year contract extension, as first reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic on Sunday afternoon.
It was expected that Brand would be retained after reports surfaced that the Sixers agreed with former Rockets GM Daryl Morey to become their team president. An official announcement regarding Morey is expected to come on Monday.
Brand assumed the role of Sixers general manager in 2018 and has made some blockbuster moves in the process, acquiring and later trading Jimmy Butler while doling out big contracts to Tobias Harris and Al Horford.
Still, he has been unable to find the correct pieces to put the 76ers over the top in a wide-open Eastern Conference. The Sixers were expected to be an elite team in the East with the maturation of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons along with Brand’s big-name acquisitions.
It hasn’t gotten them out of the second round of the playoffs, with a disappointing showing in the NBA’s Orlando playoff bubble over the summer.
Those results brought about speculation that Brand’s time in Philadelphia could be up, especially considering the potential availability of Morey, but that idea vanished rather quickly after the elongated 2019 season.
Still, Morey was considered a front-runner for the Sixers’ GM job after the team parted ways with Bryan Colangelo. Morey, however, opted to stay with the Rockets.
Morey spent 13 years with the Rockets, building one of the more loaded teams in the West that featured the likes of James Harden and Russell Westbrook. However, they were never able to get past the likes of the Golden State Warriors or, more recently, the Los Angeles Lakers.
Brand’s retention eliminates any mystery regarding three of the most important off-court positions within the Sixers organization. The Sixers recently hired Doc Rivers — who carried high praise for Brand — as their new head coach after the dismissal of Brett Brown.
“We’ll work together. That’s one of the things that was so exciting about this job, to have that opportunity with Elton,” Rivers said during his introductory press conference. “I think we have a chance to build something great here. Not just on the court. I actually think it starts off the court, and we have to get that part right. So that’s exciting. I think Elton and I will have a chance to form an amazing partnership together, and we’ll grow from there.”
It’s worth noting, however, that Brand was the man tasked with leading the Sixers’ head-coaching search that led to Rivers. So such high praise should not have been unexpected.
The team has also hired Peter Dinwiddie, Prosper Karangwa, and Jameer Nelson to front-office roles as well in recent weeks.
