After a strong summer, the Philadelphia 76ers are losing a key member of their front office.
According to The Athletic's Sabreena Merchant, Ariana Andonian is heading to the WNBA to take over the front office operation for the Los Angeles Sparks.
Andonian is going to replace former Sparks GM Raegan Pebley, who cut ties with the organization back in July. The Sparks are going with a new GM for the first time in a little under three years.
The Sparks see value in Philadelphia
It's hard for any professional basketball team to look at the 76ers' front office and not be interested in what happened this summer.
Although the Sixers entered the 2026 offseason with little optimism, after they were swept out of the playoffs by the New York Knicks, they made the kind of changes that switch their image from playoff contenders, to championship-caliber.
Of course, Mike Gansey and Jameer Nelson are getting a ton of the credit, but Andonian was a part of the operation. And while it's unclear just how much she had a role in the Sixers' big moves this summer as the vice president of player personnel and GM of the Delaware Blue Coats, Andonian got a front-row seat to see how a blockbuster summer is built.
Now, she will get an opportunity to put her skills to the test with the Sparks, who are No. 11 in the WNBA with a 15-25 record this season.
Ariana Andonian's journey
Andonian is still fairly fresh in the NBA, but her resume is impressive. At the NCAA level, Andonian worked for Duke Basketball under basketball icons Mike Krzyzewski and Jon Scheyer, working as a player personnel consultant.
When it was time for Andonian to hit the NBA level, she started with the Houston Rockets' front office as a scouting coordinator. At the time, former 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey was overseeing the front office in Houston.
When Morey left the Rockets for the Sixers in 2020, Andonian joined the Memphis Grizzlies' front office. At the time, she served as a director of player personnel. After holding that job for four years, Andonian reunited with Morey in Philadelphia, climbing up the ladder with the Sixers' organization.
The journey with the 76ers stops before the 2026-2027 NBA season. While Andonian doesn't stick around long enough to see Philly's WNBA team come to life, she has a shot at competing against it, as she takes on a new journey in LA.
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