The Philadelphia 76ers have a coach and a general manager and that’s a good thing

Minnesota, Atlanta and Detroit have recently dealt with major problems having one person serving as coach and head of personnel. The Philadelphia 76ers almost made that same mistake, but made the right organizational choice.

What power Elton Brand exactly has as the new general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers is not really defined yet.

He might have the authority to do whatever he wants, as long as he clears it with managing partner Joshua Harris, the only person above him in the Sixers hierarchy.  He could be a mere figurehead, who is one voice among many in the crowded ‘collaborative’ Sixers personnel department.

Since the only moves the Sixers have made since he took over are the signing of Emeka Okafor and D.J. Hogg to training camp contracts, the public has no idea yet.

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But, looking at the current landscape of the NBA, the most important thing about the new administration might be that Elton Brand and Brett Brown are two entirely different people.

In the modern NBA, having one person wear all the top hats in an organization simply does not work.

In January, 2017, there were four teams where the head coach also was in charge of the personnel department (maybe five if you include Spurs’ Gregg Popovich, but R.C. Buford is officially the general manager).

Since then, two, Doc Rivers of the Clippers and Mike Budenholzer of Atlanta, had the GM title stripped from them and made just coaches, and Budenholzer left the next season (he now coaches Milwaukee with no other executive authority)

A third, Stan Van Gundy, was fired from both positions by Detroit at the end of the 2017-18 season. The Pistons now have separate management and coaches.

The only pure GM/coach left is Tom Thibodeau in Minnesota, who may also find himself pink-slipped thanks to the Jimmy Butler situation.

Every owner wants to be the one to find the next Red Auerbach, who as Celtics’ general manager and coach won nine NBA titles in 11 years.

What people forget is that the Celtics’ last title under Auerbach came in 1966.

In his final season, the NBA only had 10 teams (they now have 30) and there was no such thing as free agency. At one point, Auerbach had six future Naismith Hall of Fame players and, unless he cut or traded them, they were with Boston until the end of their careers.

He had zero interference from ownership. There was not exactly big money or fame for owners so they did not keep close tabs like they do now.

Auerbach told the story of how, one season, an owner came up from New York and put all the cash from the playoffs in a bag and then went right back to New York. It was the only time he saw him all year.

The last time a true GM/coach won the NBA championship was Pat Riley in 2006, and he did not coach the entire season, taking over for Van Gundy in late December.

So if having one person be in charge on and off the court has not worked since Lyndon Johnson was president, why do owners continually do it, and why do people agree to do both when it is doomed to failure?

First, owners are egotistical enough to think they WILL find the next Red Auerbach. In their heart of hearts, most of them would really like to duplicate Eddie Gottlieb. In 1947 the Philadelphia Warriors won the NBA title with ‘Gotty’ the coach, general manager AND owner.

Secondly, coaches are egotistical enough to think they can do it even if everyone else had failed. Having shown their coaching chops, doing the other major job in basketball is a challenge. It also pays really well, Van Gundy is pocketing $35 million for leading the Pistons to nothing in his four years there. If they flop, at least they become fabulously wealthy while doing it.

So why does it no longer work like it did for Gottlieb and Auerbach? Free agency and big money would be the biggest culprits.

Look at the current situation in Minnesota as the perfect example.

The reason for the turmoil is that in a year Butler’s contract will expire, and he can go wherever he wants, and one of those places is not Minnesota.

Bill Russell could never have pulled that power play, because leaving the Celtics if he wanted to was not an option. It was not until 1988 that a NBA player could become an unrestricted free agent.

So the problem in Minnesota is, for the future of the team, the best thing GM Thibodeau should do is shop Butler around and get the best deal possible, most likely a decent player and some draft picks.

However, losing the top player on a team that barely made the playoffs last year would  likely mean a losing season, and coach Thibodeau will probably be on the unemployment line (along with GM Thibodeau). That is why he is pressuring Butler to play for the T-Wolves this season and asking for crazy returns on trades (like the 76ers) no team could accept.

Butler helps the T-Wolves win now, his leaving the following year ruins their future but coaches are paid to win, to look down the road is a GM’s job.

Additionally, if the coach is also GM, he is the one in charge of contracts. After his agent tells him the club will not pony up the money he believes he deserves, when the coach asks a player to sacrifice something for the good of the team, how do you think he will react?

For a brief moment, it appeared the 76ers might go down the same dark, rabbit hole as Minnesota, Atlanta, Detroit and the Clippers.

On Aug. 27, Harris told NBC Sports’ Amy Fadool that if he did not find an acceptable person to be general manager, that Brown might continue as interim GM,  the position he had accepted in the aftermath of the Bryan Colangelo/Eric Jr. debacle, for as long as another year.

Some people thought, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that Brown keeping as GM was a peachy keen idea.

To his credit, Brown was not one of them. He said from the start he had no interest in the job permanently.

Whether Brown told Harris he did not want to continue that long or maybe NBA commissioner (and unofficial 76ers adviser) Adam Silver told Harris it was really not a good idea, the fact is the Sixers hired Brand three weeks later.

It is not like Brown is now powerless. Brand is not his boss, he reports directly to Harris, and remember that Brown coached Brand two years ago, so they have a close relationship.

But there is a big difference between a coach having a lot of say in the team’s personnel decisions and having the final say, answerable to no one but the owner, who gave him this authority to begin with.

Elton Brand is the 76ers general manager and Brett Brown is the coach. To quote that basketball sage Martha Stewart: “It’s a good thing.”