Philadelphia 76ers: Brett Brown most to lose out of playoff coaches

The Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown is the one coach out of all in the playoffs this year that has the most to lose.

With a 2-1 lead over the Brooklyn Nets heading into game four, the Philadelphia 76ers and their head coach Brett Brown are in a good position. They won game three without star big man Joel Embiid, but Brown can’t be at ease right now. Out of all the coaches in the playoffs, Brown has the most to lose if the Sixers have an early exit.

With the trades for Tobias Harris and Jimmy Butler, expectation is for Brown and the 76ers to get to the Eastern Conference Finals is at a bear minimum (subscription needed for link in hyperlinked tweet). If Brown can’t get there, then that would be severally disappointing. Yet, the path to the East Finals isn’t going to be a cake walk either.

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Despite the game two blowout, this first round matchup isn’t an easy one for Philly. Brooklyn’s trio of young guards in D’Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert have proven to be a problem for the Sixers. On top of that, Embiid’s long term health is a big issue as well, not only for this series, but also in the next round as well.

Assume the Sixers do get past the Nets, they will most likely have to matchup against the Toronto Raptors, who are currently leading the Orlando Magic 2-1 in their series. The Sixers need Embiid healthy if they want a shot of beating the Raptors. Boban Marjanovic and Greg Monroe won’t be able to matchup against Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka.

Besides it being a tough task of accomplishing the goal of the reaching a conference finals, no other coach has the same pressure as Brown. In the East: Nick Nurse of the Raptors, Mike Budenholzer of the Milwaukee Bucks, Dwayne Casey of the Detroit Pistons and Steve Clifford of the Magic are all in their first year as head coaches with their respective clubs, so their jobs should be safe.

Other coaches in the East such as Nate McMillan of the Indiana Pacers and Kenny Atkinson of the Nets have no pressure to win due to either youth of roster or injury to a star player (Victor Oladipo). Obviously, Brad Stevens of the Boston Celtics is safe due to his pedigree.

In the Western Conference playoff bracket, some coaches do face some pressure. Terry Stotts of the Portland Trail Blazers and Billy Donovan of the Oklahoma City Thunder may lose their jobs if they fail to get out of the first round. It should be noted that Stotts might be given a pass for this season with his starting center in Jusuf Nurkic out for the postseason.

Due to the fact that those two are currently coaching against each other in the first round, one of them will have a chance at losing their job at the end of their series. Yet one of those two coaches will get to the second round, if they lose in that round then they won’t be in major jeopardy of losing their job. The rest of the coaches in the West playoff bracket should be safe regardless of how they do this postseason.

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Coaches like Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs, Mike D’Antoni of the Houston Rockets, Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors and Doc Rivers of the Los Angeles Clippers have too much equity with their franchises to lose their job. Quin Snyder of the Utah Jazz and Mike Malone of the Denver Nuggets should be safe as well due to the young nature of their rosters.

There are really three coaches that are on the hot seat this postseason in Brown, Stotts and Donovan. While it appears that Stotts and Donovan have pressure to get out of the first round and one of which might be in danger of losing their jobs, they still don’t have the same level of expectation that Brown does. Brown has to make it to at least the East Finals to meet the high hopes that the franchise has for the roster.

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Not only is Brown coaching for his job with the Philadelphia 76ers this postseason, he has the most pressure out of all coaches to get his team to the conference finals. That high expectation makes him the one with the most to lose.