Sixers Front Office Hires Signal Continued Transition

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

When Bryan Colangelo was hired by the Philadelphia 76ers in the beginning of April, there were only a couple of months until the franchise’s most important draft in decades. It would not have been prudent to completely overhaul front office departments and essentially start from scratch in terms of both internal player evaluation and external scouting in such a relatively short time frame. So although Colangelo brought in guys like Ned Cohen and Marc Eversley, a lot of the holdover from the Sam Hinkie era still remained.

Now, with a full offseason in the rearview mirror, Colangelo has the luxury of filling the ranks how he sees fit. The team announced yesterday that in addition to Cohen being promoted to Vice President of Basketball Operations, they were hiring a host of other individuals, most prominently former Raptors executive Alex Rucker as VP of Analytics and Strategy.

The full announcement on the Sixers website also notes that: “In conjunction with the aforementioned changes, former Vice President of Basketball Operations Sachin Gupta and Vice President of Analytics Ben Falk have moved on to pursue new opportunities.” Falk and Gupta were a pair of the more well-known Hinkie hires, a clear indication that the Hinkie era is fading further and further into the past.

It’s certainly nothing new or unexpected that the new man in charge is going to want hand-picked individuals working for and with him. Cohen was reportedly instrumental in the decision-making at this year’s draft, during which the Sixers were largely praised for their selections. He was a highly respected part of the NBA league office before joining Philadelphia. Giving him increased responsibility is likely a wise and deserving move.

Likewise, Rucker has a terrific reputation and (in my opinion) a favorable outlook on incorporating new waves of data and viewpoints. He was prominently featured in Zach Lowe’s SportVU article on Grantland (RIP), and there is a lot to like if you check out his opinions as expressed on his twitter timeline.

All of which is to say that although change can be viewed in a negative light at times, especially for those who view themselves as ride or die for Sam Hinkie, there’s plenty of reason to believe in these hires and what Bryan Colangelo has been trying to build since he arrived.