Potential replacements for Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown.
There’s a lot riding on this postseason for the Philadelphia 76ers. The person that should be feeling the most pressure for the Sixers to succeed is their head coach Brett Brown. Whether it’s fair or not, Brown’s on the hot seat and their’s plenty of worthy candidates to take his place.
Brown’s not had full job security since the first season that the 76ers made the playoffs under his leadership. There’s no doubt that he’s a solid head coach. He has a winning record when given NBA level talent. He has a track record of developing players. He’s a solid motivator and players’ coach. He’s also proven to be a good defensive coach for the most part.
Yet, there are still questions about his decision making and his skills as an offensive coach. He’s also been knocked out of the playoffs the last two seasons in the second round. If he can’t get Philly past the second round in Walt Disney, then there’s a good chance general manager Elton Brand will be searching for a new head coach.
In the past, The Sixers Sense has produced articles covering Kenny Atkinson and Mike D’Antoni as potential head-coaching candidates. For that reason, they won’t be included on this list, though I do suggest reading those articles after you finish this one.
After much thought, there are at least six legit candidates that should be considered a potential Sixers head coaching vacancy. Each of these candidates has varying levels of experience and are more than qualified to take over the 76ers. They are not listed in any particular order either.
Sixers head coaching candidates: Ime Udoka
It makes sense to have Ime Udoke on this list. He’s a former NBA player, an eight-year assistant and is the only candidate currently with the team. As a player, he played both forward position and was pretty good defensively, despite being limited as an offensive player.
Before coming to the Philadelphia 76ers this past offseason, Udoka spent the first seven years as an assistant working for the legendary Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs. No doubt that was a great piece of experience for the former player.
Now he’s been running the Sixers defense this season which ranks sixth in point allowed this season. Udoka has an impressive resume, but despite that, it seems like a long shot to have him take over as the 76ers next head coach.
Both the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks have expressed interest in hiring Philly’s assistant. The Bulls and Knicks are already in offseason mode so they are a step ahead of the Sixers in that regard and could end up making a decision on who to hire before the 76ers even end their season.
Udoka is a solid candidate, but unless both the Bulls and the Knicks pass on him, he probably won’t be available when Philly is at a place to make a decision about Brown’s future and who could potentially replace him.
Sixers head coaching candidates: Tom Thibodeau
Out of all the potential coaching candidates on this list, Tom Thibodeau is the most experienced and second most accomplished name out there. He was an assistant for 20 seasons before finally getting a head coach job.
It should be noted that he spent two seasons as an assistant for the Philadelphia 76ers from 1994-96. That was back when John Lucas was coaching the Sixers. His other stops as an assistant included: Minnesota Timberwolves, Spurs, Knicks, Houston Rockets, and Boston Celtics (won a title).
He was hired as a Bulls head coach and lead them to the postseason each of the five seasons he was the coach. After he had parted ways with the Bulls, he took over the Timberwolves as head coach and executive. He ended a 13-season playoff drought but was let go in his third season after just one playoff appearance.
Thibodeau is a great defensive coach, but the biggest knock against him is that he overplays his starters and doesn’t trust his bench. His teams usually have had injury problems and don’t have anything left in the tank by the time playoffs begin. While having him coach run a defense spread headed by Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons would be interesting, he may overwork them to the point they won’t have super long careers.
Thibodeau is also a candidate for the Knicks job, so even if he didn’t get the job in New York, he would have to promise to overwork the 76ers duo of stars to be considered a legit candidate for a potential head coaching job in Philly.
Sixers head coaching candidates: Sam Cassell
I’m not going to lie, Sam Cassell was one of my favorite players in the mid-2000’s when I first started watching basketball. He had a high basketball I.Q. and was a legit point guard. He’s an accomplished player and has learned from some coaching legends.
“It also helps that he has a strong connection Brand, who were teammates on the Clippers for two-and-half seasons.”
As a player, Cassell won three titles, two with the Rockets and one with the Celtics. He also made one All-Star game and one All-NBA third team. He has career averages of 15.7 points, 6.0 assists, and 1.2 steals, while converting 45.4 percent of his field goals and 33.1 percent of his 3-pointers. He played for the Rockets, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers, and Boston Celtics.
He’s worked for three coaches as an assistant. He started out as an assistant for his former coach the late great Flip Saunders with the Washington Wizards. Then stayed two seasons after Saunders left and worked under Randy Wittman. After that, he joined another former coach Doc Rivers in Los Angeles coaching the Clippers.
He’s been on Doc’s staff since and the Clippers have enjoyed their two best eras of basketball in franchise history. It seems like it’s only a matter of time before Cassell gets a head coaching job based on his resume as a player and assistant.
He appears to be a good person to take over Brown’s job if the Philadelphia 76ers believe they need to move on from Brown. It also helps that he has a strong connection Brand, who were teammates on the Clippers for two-and-half seasons.
Sixers head coaching candidates: Mark Jackson
Like Udoka and Cassell, Mark Jackson is a former player, but unlike the two assistants, Jackson has experience as a head coach. The former point guard’s experience as both a player and a head coach makes him an interesting candidate if the Philadelphia 76ers decided to change head coaches.
As a player, Jackson mad a handful of deep playoff runs, most notably with the Indiana Pacers. He also made one All-Star game and lead the league in assists back in the1996-97 season. He also has a Rookie of the Year award to his name as well.
Despite having a 52.6 career win percentage, Jackson has only coached one team for three seasons. He was the man in charge of the Golden State Warriors when Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were developing into stars.
Yet, despite the fact that he turned Curry and Thompson into the best 3-point shooting backcourt in NBA, he was fired in favor of Steve Kerr. While the move to Kerr as head coach paid off for the Warriors, it seems unfair that Jackson wasn’t given a longer chance with the Warriors or with another team.
The Sixers could be the team that gives Jackson another chance to be an NBA head coach. He obviously has talent as a player development coach and as a motivator. Hopefully, he will improve his offensive scheme if hired by the 76ers.
Sixers head coaching candidates: Jason Kidd
Like Cassell and Jackson, Jason Kidd was a former point guard that turned into a coach. However, he’s unlike the previous former point guards on this list. He was a far more successful point guard but wasn’t a very successful head coach in his previous stops.
Kidd will be remembered as a top-5 point guard of all time. He’s already in the Hall of Fame and his playing resume is beyond impressive. His career average is 12.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 8.7 assists, and 1.9 steals. He’s second in All-Time career assists and eighth in All-Time assists average.
He’s also made 10 All-Star games, was named Rookie of the Year, made nine All-Defensive teams, and six All-NBA teams. He claimed a championship with the Dallas Mavericks late in his career as the starting point guard. Despite being an accomplished player, it didn’t turn into major success as a head coach.
He had two head coaching gigs since he retired as a player. He first was in charge of the Brooklyn Nets which ended badly after just one season and a playoff appearance. He was then with the Bucks where he didn’t see too much success in terms of wins or in terms of playoff appearances. He had a 47.8 percent win percentage in Milwaukee and made the playoffs twice in four seasons.
His success in Milwaukee comes in terms of player development, especially when it comes to Giannis Antetokounmpo. He molded a very raw young player in the Antetokounmpo into the superstar he is today.
Considering that Simmons and Antetokounmpo are similar players, one would imagine that Kidd would help Simmons develop his already impressive game. That itself makes him an interesting coaching candidate. It would be interesting to see if the Philadelphia 76ers could lure him away from his gig as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Sixers head coaching candidates: Tyronn Lue
Like Cassell, Tyronn Lue is a former player that is an assistant on his former coach in Rivers. Lue doesn’t have a long coaching resume, but unlike other coaches on this list, he’s won championships as both a player and head coach.
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For Sixers fans, most remember Lue as the recipient of Allen Iverson’s most famous crossover during the 2001 NBA Finals, back when Lue was the backup point guard for the Lakers. However, his playing career shouldn’t be marked by just one moment.
Lue was a journeyman backup for his career. Besides winning a title with the Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and Lakers back in 2001, there’s nothing of significance in his career. He played for 11 seasons and had career averages of 8.5 points and 3.1 assists.
Lue’s coaching career is far more impressive. He was an assistant under Rivers with both the Celtics and Clippers. He also coached LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and the Cleveland Cavaliers after taking over for David Blatt at the mid-point of that season.
Besides having experience as both a player and coach dealing with big personalities, Lue certainly is knowledgable and can make adjustments. With a roster that doesn’t fit around Embiid and Simmons, it seems like Lue could be a strong candidate to come in and right the ship.
Each of the coaches listed would be a good candidate to become the Philadelphia 76ers next head coach, if they decide to move on from Brett Brown.