Credit: phillygameday.com

Tonight would have been the opening night for the Sixers, who would be out of the country and in Toronto playing the Raptors. I’m not feeling well, though that probably has nothing to do with the missed game.

On that note, Ed Stefanski, on his quest to demolish the Atlantic Division, is now GM for the Raptors. As Sixers GM, well, he didn’t have a successful lead role. But I think it’s fair to say that he wasn’t terrible, either, and that it’s also fair to say that NBA GMs in general are difficult to evaluate, especially in only a couple of years.

I’ve gone over this before, but our perspective on Stefanski is completely based on hindsight. I agreed with many of his decisions that have been second-guessed at the time they were made: signing Elton Brand and drafting Evan Turner. I also disagreed with many: the size of the Iguodala extension and hiring Eddie Jordan. As you may know, none of these, to this moment, have worked out all that well. But he had his high points, such as drafting Jrue Holiday (a nice gift) and the shrewd Korver and Meeks trades, among others. What this tells me is something that, I think, many throughout the NBA know: executives need a LOT of time to prove they could do a competent job. Did Stefanski have enough time? Probably. But his one chance at a major move blew up in his face, with Brand’s freak injury and subsequent disdain for Eddie Jordan making him one of the biggest mistakes in franchise history (even with his rebound, his contract sets the team back for years).

Point being: I’m not sure Stefanski is as bad as we’re making him out to be, even with his rampant talk about nonsense about everything having to make “basketball sense” and not making a major move to try and get out of this current mess. He might be alright, especially in the role he’ll now have in Toronto.

How has Ed done? Picture Credit: bleacherreport.com

Ed Stefanski was hired as president of the 76ers during the 2007-08 season and held the reins of the Sixers team until last summer, when Rod Thorn got his job, demoting Stefanski back to the GM role he had in New Jersey. Stefanski was the GM under Thorn in New Jersey before taking the Sixers gig, and it looks like he’s free to look elsewhere for a job.

From Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo:

Three candidates have emerged as frontrunners for the Toronto Raptors’ general manager job, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

FormerNew Orleans Hornets GM Jeff Bower, Philadelphia 76ers GM Ed Stefanski and San Antonio assistant GM Dennis Lindsey are three focuses of the franchise to work under Toronto president Bryan Colangelo, sources said.

…

Stefanski is part of a regime change in Philadelphia, where new ownership is taking over and may overhaul basketball operations. Thorn came into Philadelphia a year ago as team president, usurping Stefanski’s power.

Sidenote: Usurping is the perfect word to describe the situation with Thorn and Stefanski. It’s spectacular.

Woj goes on to say that the process has just begun and that a hire would not take place until August. As I mentioned in the Sixers assistant coach opening story, it makes too much sense to not hire as of now. When teams are complaining of costs and millions of dollars in losses, not paying executives is a good way to limit costs.

No matter the outcome of this GM search, Ed Stefanski is more than likely out of Philadelphia once the ownership change is approved. Ditto for Rod Thorn. So him looking for other opportunities makes sense.

So with all of this in mind, I wanted to take a look at Stefanski’s record with the team and why he was usurped by Thorn.

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