Sixers GM Elton Brand: "They want to be here, they want to be with our organisation, and I see them here for a long, long time"
Tuesday 25 August 2020 23:32, UK
Philadelphia 76ers general manager Elton Brand says that the team are "not looking to trade" All-Star duo Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
Brand made the comments a day after the organisation fired coach Brett Brown and two days after the Sixers were swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Changes are coming, Brand vowed, but not with Embiid or Simmons.
"I'm not looking to trade Ben or Joel," Brand said during a virtual news conference. "I'm trying to complement them better. They are 24 and 26 years old, respectively. You try to make that fit as long as you can. They want to be here, they want to be with our organisation, and I see them here for a long, long time.
"I'm going to talk with Joel and Ben, about the game and how they see it, where they felt we were weak and strong in our play."
The Sixers owe $29.5m to Embiid and $28.8m to Simmons next season. They also have $27.5m on the books committed to Al Horford and $34.4m to Tobias Harris.
"My goal and my focus is to continue to get this team over the hump to truly contend. And that's my marching orders," Brand said. "The financial realities of the world, I understand them, but my goal is to keep this team relevant and find a way to win."
Brand cited the team's fluctuating intensity as one of the reasons Brown was fired while also recognising the absence of Simmons due to an injury.
"Even in the playoffs, our intensity at times wanes," Brand said. "Now, of course, missing Ben Simmons - that's a huge key to us getting swept. I would love to see this group with Ben Simmons, but I don't want to make any excuses. But I think that attention to detail, that energy level, that certain push that we didn't have at times."
While changes are also expected in the structure of the team's front office, Brand said the coaching search will be on him and him alone.
"To be clear, and frank, we feel the collaboration days didn't work too well," Brand said. "So I will be leading the search. I will be making the recommendation to (owners) Josh (Harris) and David (Blitzer), of course, but we're getting better."
The team is expected to target Ty Lue, who won a title with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 with LeBron James, according to ESPN.
Lue is an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers. The team is also expected to gauge the interest of Villanova head coach Jay Wright, per the report.
