Player Development Will Make or Break Philadelphia 76ers’ Brett Brown

With the Philadelphia 76ers season over, offseason development of the key pieces will prove whether or not head coach Brett Brown will stick around.

Now that the Philadelphia 76ers season has come to an end, what should the team look to do? Well, draft and free agency strategizing comes to mind, but that should not be the only thing they look at. Going forward, developing talent should be priority number one. For head coach Brett Brown, this could determine how long he sticks around.

It’s no secret that the Philadelphia 76ers need to start the building aspect of the rebuild. After four seasons of acquiring talent, putting that talent together needs to happen. Obviously, Brett Brown’s career trajectory could easily depend on the outcome of next season.

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For the majority of his tenure, Brett Brown has gotten a pass from the Philadelphia 76ers fanbase. It goes without saying that the constant losing can’t be put entirely on his shoulders. Obviously, the team itself lacked any real talent. So, most fans gave Brown time to really get his coaching chops down.

With all the current and potential talent on the roster, however, fans should expect Brown to make the jump. Now, the quickness of such a jump is predicated on said player development. Interestingly enough, this offseason may be the most important in recent Philadelphia 76ers memory.

With that said, Brown knows how to develop players. It may not seem like it based on record, but he knows how to get the most out of his guys. Brown has a history of getting below-average players to thrive. Hopefully, he can help the Philadelphia 76ers make that jump.

Pop’s Coaching Tree

As many fans know, Brett Brown and San Antonio Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich have a long history together. Before Brown became head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, he had Popovich gave him an assistant coach position. Through this, Brown learned how to properly develop talent.

During his time in San Antonio, Brett Brown had to essentially oversee the talent on the roster. He primarily worked on making sure some of the fringe players on the team could come in a compete when necessary. This role helped Brown understand the value in all players, not just the stars.

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With that said, Brett Brown’s experience with the Spurs organization should translate well to the Sixers. For a team that lacks talent from one to fifteen, a coaching staff that can truly develop talent will prove crucial. If your team does not have ideal depth, your team will ultimately fail. This experience of coaching for a championship team will hopefully come to fruition going into next season.

Continuing to Develop

Now, the Philadelphia 76ers have had some success with some talent in recent memory. Guys like Robert Covington, T.J. McConnell, and Richaun Holmes immediately come to mind. Obviously, these players seemed to have no clear-cut place in the NBA. With persistence and Brett Brown’s ability to develop talent, they found themselves roles in the NBA.

Specifically, Robert Covington has shown a newfound two-way ability that most did not expect from him. Covington, previously known mostly as a shooter, is now one of the premier defenders at his position. Since his first year with the Sixers in 2014-2015, RoCo’s defensive box plus/minus went from a -0.5 to a 2.0 last season. That puts him the top 30 defenders in the league. Clearly, Brett Brown’s coaching and player development has turned him around.

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In addition, Richaun Holmes has stepped up big time for the Philadelphia 76ers. In a similar fashion, Holmes has improved dramatically on the defensive side of the ball. From last season this year, Holmes’ defensive box plus/minus went from a 0.0 to a 1.5. While that may not be league-leading, it still goes to show that Brown has the ability to get the most out of his guys.

Developing the Big Pieces

So, Brett Brown does have the track record to say that he can develop talent. That’s all well and good, but now he has to get the key pieces to develop. Guys like Covington and Holmes can play contributor roles for the team, and obviously will not be the key focal points. Guys like Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid will mostly play those roles.

Now, for Brett Brown to ultimately find success, Simmons and Embiid need to pan out. When you consider how much time and resources the Philadelphia 76ers have invested into these two players, you realize how important next season truly is. After three years — between the two of them — of rest, now is Brown’s true chance to show if he can hang.

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While Simmons and Embiid are both star talents in their own right, it will take further development to truly hone their craft. With Embiid, you have a player who can score the ball in multiple facets of the game. He has the ability to guard multiple positions, and has a defensive prowess that most guys his size don’t possess.

With Simmons, you have a guy who has the size of a power forward, but the finesse and passing ability of a point guard. That’s a combination that hasn’t been seen since Magic Johnson. Now, I’m not saying that he’s at that point yet, but he can be with proper development. If Brett Brown can get the most out of these two players, along with the other complimentary pieces, the Philadelphia 76ers have the chance to seriously compete going forward.

Getting a Pass

Now, we all know that Brett Brown’s leash how been relatively long. Considering how most Philadelphia coaches don’t get more than 3-4 years before getting the boot, Brown has had an easier time than most. To me, next season will be where you can seriously make a judgement call on the four-year head coach.

In all fairness, Brown has not had the best talent to work with. For most of his tenure, he has had to try to get the most out of guys like Casper Ware and Chris Johnson. Many were surprised when he turned Michael Carter-Williams into a consensus Rookie of the Year winner, but that period of questioning is over.

The Philadelphia 76ers now have three potential core pieces in Ben Simmons, Dario Saric, and Joel Embiid. On top of that, they have one to two potential lottery picks, as well as cap space to work with in free agency. If there was any time to make a serious push into the playoff picture, now is the time.

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Barring any sort of injury, Brett Brown should be able to get the most of his guys next season. Whether that is a playoff spot or not is up for debate. To me, serious improvements need to be made. I hope that, given his history, Brett Brown can get the most out his players and main his position with the Philadelphia 76ers organization.