Doc Rivers is coming to Philadelphia
After a slew of rumors and rapid meetings, the inevitable has finally become official. Doc Rivers will be joining the Philadelphia 76ers as their newest head coach.
Once it was announced that the team would be parting ways with longtime coach Brett Brown, Tyronn Lue quickly emerged as the leading candidate for the vacant Sixers position. Plenty of rumors and reports leaking regarding Lue being the guy Philly wanted above all else, despite this being met with some overall pushback from the collective Sixers fanbase.
The team did express some interest with the ever polarizing Mike D’Antoni, however, it was reported that there was some disagreement between ownership and GM Elton Brand on who the best candidate was. Brand wanted Lue, ownership wanted D’Antoni.
However, seemingly out of nowhere, the Los Angeles Clippers shocked everyone by firing Doc Rivers. With a future Hall of Fame coach now on the open market, the Sixers front office acted swiftly and decisively.
Rivers was promptly brought in for a visit with the team, spending Game 1 of the NBA Finals with the Philly front office. The meeting reportedly went extremely well, and the general consensus was that Rivers would be receiving a job offer very shortly.
Now with Rivers locked in as the team’s next coach, a couple of things are worth mentioning in the initial analysis. For starters, Rivers has spoken extremely highly of both Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid in the past. Unlocking those two’s full potential is a huge piece to the Philadelphia puzzle, and that will likely be at the top of Rivers’ to-do list.
On top of that, Rivers has a previous relationship with Tobias Harris from his time in Los Angeles and likely has some pull on the trade/free agency market as well. Guys like Chris Paul and Austin Rivers quickly become favorites to find their way to Philly over the next couple of months.
Above all else, landing Doc Rivers adds some much-needed life and stability to a Sixers franchise that has been mind-numbingly frustrating over the last couple of months. He brings a level of poise and expertise to the building that the team hasn’t experienced in a very long time.
Photo by Ric Tapia/Icon Sportswire
