Brett Brown has performed admirably in interim GM role

After being thrust into the Philadelphia 76ers’ General Manager role, Brett Brown has made every tough decision that was needed of him.

It’s not easy being in charge. And after Bryan Colangelo’s dismissal, that is exactly what Brett Brown became, in charge. In charge of the team and in charge of all its decisions. Right in time for the most important part of the year for a GM. Woo!

It would’ve been easy for him to just play it safe. He could’ve of just made his time as the GM the most comfortable as possible. But instead he did exactly the opposite. Because of this, everyone should take a deep breath, walk away from their Richaun Holmes murals, and applaud our fill-in GM Brett Brown.

The Draft

Aww, how predictable. The head coach-GM playing it safe and picking the fan favorite, “can contribute now”, 22-year-old hometown boy… oh we thought. Instead, Brett Brown showed us how keen of a General Manager he actually is. With his first big decision, Brown swindled the Suns, acquiring an unprotected Miami first-round pick and Zhaire Smith for the above mentioned Mikal Bridges.

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Now, the fanbase in Philadelphia can be… brutal, and it was no different for this move. The initial response seemed to be not positive at all, to put it nicely. But, when the dust settled, I think fans started to realize how smart the trade really was.

The difference between Bridges and Smith as prospects is not that huge. Definitely not an unprotected first-round pick level difference. Seeing unprotected future firsts come up in trades is very rare in this day and age, especially when it is offered to move up only six spots in the middle of the draft. Getting that quality of a pick in a draft day trade should be a huge win, and would’ve been even for an established GM.

To go along with all of this, the Sixers got the guy that they wanted in the draft as well. Beforehand, Zhaire Smith was one of the few draftee’s that got multiple workouts with the Sixers. There was even a buzz that he might have been taken with the 10th overall pick anyway. So for Brett Brown to leave the draft with the guy he wanted in Zhaire Smith and a valuable future first round pick is incredible. Especially given the fact that he could’ve sat back and gone with the more popular option of taking Mikal Bridges.

The offseason

First off I want to establish this before even starting to talk about the offseason: it is really unfair to criticize Brett Brown or the Sixers organization in general for not getting LeBron and/or Kawhi. LeBron was never comming to Philly, just in general that was a super long shot, LA was always his destination.

In addition, Kawhi was never an option, but that was really due to the Spurs more than the Sixers. When the Spurs gave their asking price, Kawhi no longer became an option plain and simple. The blame shouldn’t be on what the Sixers should’ve been willing to give up. It should be on the insane amount the Spurs wanted in the first place. But anyway, I digress.

The Anderson and TLC Trade

Brett Brown showed once again he was willing to make unpopular moves for the betterment of the team after the draft. With roster cuts inevitably needed, Brown was in a tough position from the start. His first move involved shipping off Justin Anderson and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot for Mike Muscala and, surprise, the move was criticized.

Some believed that Brown was giving up too soon on the young talent of Anderson and Cabarrot. However looking at the roster, this moved was really actually a smart one.

Before the trade the Sixers roster had roughly a billion wing players and very minimal depth in the frontcourt. This trade simply evened out the depth chart while allowing them to get closer to the player limit.

Yes some young players had to be lost, but there just wasn’t room on the roster for them. Neither Anderson nor Cabarrot would’ve got playing time next season anyway, so keeping them would not only have been a disservice to the Sixers but it would’ve been a disservice to the players also. This trade will allow them the possibility of more playing time and bettering there careers, so all in all, I say win win for both sides.

The Richaun Holmes trade

The other notable and notably criticized move Brett Brown made this offseason was shipping Richaun Holmes to Phoenix for cash considerations. This move was one that many saw coming but really no one wanted to see. And if you didn’t like the move, chances are there isn’t a lot I can say here to change your mind. I can’t even say myself that I necessarily “liked” it however it was a move that I think was necessary to make. Brown had to make this tough decision to clear the way for the more diverse and potentially better, Jonah Bolden.

Richaun was definitely a fan favorite in Philadelphia and the fact that an interm GM had the guts to trade him away shows how strong of a person Brett Brown is. It was the needed basketball move that some GMs would have been afraid to make given the current fan base. Kudos Brett Brown.

So to all the Brett Brown GM haters out their, calm down a bit. He’s doing just fine and help will be on the way soon as the search for a GM continues. But in the mean time, believe this, the Sixers are in good hands with Brown, so I wouldn’t rush this process one bit.