Brett Brown failed at least three players as the Philadelphia 76ers head coach.
It’s official, Brett Brown is gone as the Philadelphia 76ers head coach. There are certainly positives and negatives from Brown’s tenure as head coach, but one of the biggest failures surrounding tenure is in terms of player development and maximizing players’ skill sets.
There are three players that Brown clearly failed. The players on this list are players who were either totted as top lottery pick or a veteran with a reputation of being a solid contributor.
It should be noted that Markelle Fultz was purposefully left off this list. Fultz’s injury and mental yips can’t be held on Brown.
3 players that Brett Brown failed: Al Horford
It’s easy to start with the most recent example. Let’s be clear, Al Horford‘s failure on the Sixers up to this point isn’t completely on Brown. The veteran big man isn’t without blame for his failure to live up to the massive contract he signed last summer.
Father time is partially to blame as it’s clear that Horford has lost a step. His skills as a playmaking center doesn’t necessarily complement the duo of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid when all three players share the floor.
That being said, Brown didn’t do Horford many favors. The biggest being that despite the fit clearly not working back in December of this past season, it took until after the All-Star break before Brown took Horford out of the starting five.
Brown also failed to utilize Horford’s skills as a playmaker and pick-and-roll player, instead more often than not, Horford was perched at the 3-point line. While Horford can stretch the floor, it’s not his primary strength as he only shot 35.0 percent from deep. It’s around league average, but not the type of player that Simmons and Embiid need surrounding them for a long stretch minutes.
It’s not completely on Brown, but he clearly failed to utalize the five-time All-Star to the best of his ability. That combined with Horford’s decline will make it very hard for Philly to trade the veteran big man.