The Philadelphia 76ers’ upheaval is seemingly not over. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the Sixers are in talks to sign Mike D’Antoni as an associate head coach. The report comes less than one day after current head coach Brett Brown signed a two year extension and only a few days after the team signed Jerry Colangelo to a front office role.
Colangelo and D’Antoni have a longstanding relationship with successful shared tenures with the Phoenix Suns and with Team USA. It is probably fair to assume that Colangelo’s hiring was a direct cause of the move. Meanwhile, there seems to be ever-growing evidence that Sixers’ ownership is becoming impatient with a long and arduous rebuild, hoping to create some credibility on a team that has only won one game this season.
D’Antoni last coached in Los Angeles with the Lakers but was fired after only two years. He is well-known for being a pioneer of fast-paced, modern offense. The Sixers have struggled on both ends of the floor but D’Antoni’s expertise could lead to some marked improvements on one end of the floor, at least.
It will, however, be interesting to see whether D’Antoni’s offense is implemented quickly and how rookie Jahlil Okafor fits into the style which usually does not call for post-ups. It is also interesting that D’Antoni is choosing to become an assistant for a coach who seems to have job security when he could probably land a number of head coaching jobs when the season is over. The reason could perhaps be D’Antoni using a brief stint with the Sixers as an open audition.
Nothing has been made official yet, but if the reports are true, D’Antoni could be on the 76ers’ bench as early as the end of this month.
