The Sixers should let Brett Brown go

[levon]

Irrespective of Brown's ability or potential as a coach, the team should seek a new coach because seeing how Embiid and Simmons respond to a different staff is worth the gamble alone. Both of the Sixers young stars were amazing out of the gate but have shown little progression towards reaching their potential ceilings. Sometimes a coaching change doesn't do much to affect superstars (see Scott Brooks and Westbrook) but the Sixers are realistically stuck until one or both of their stars reach the next level.

tl;dr Brown is a good coach, but coaching change is worth the gamble if it means young star progression.

[homecourtloss]

So fire a coach who has been here throughout this process and has a championship contending team right now?

Lol!

[CIN-C-STAR]

Brett Brown isn't the development coach though.
Also, players have to want to change. It's obvious Simmons hasn't wanted to shoot and Embiid didn't want to eat healthy. That's not on the coach.

[Detective]

The more I look at the Sixers, the more it becomes clear that they are just trying to stack together whatever players they can that look good on paper, but then have no actual functional schemes or strategy when on the court. And you can't even say they try to play bully ball overall, because that tactic only works for them against weak teams, but ends up hurting them against smart ones. It's not Brown himself(though he does play a part and is responsible for the blame on the planning aspect on court), but more like the collective BBall IQ on the entire team is extremely low. That combined with them having essentially zero flow or rhythm, is brutal.

[levon]

So fire a coach who has been here throughout this process and has a championship contending team right now?

Lol!

I don't think the Sixers are contenders.

[bisme37]

I don't think so. We all got excited about the huge roster but it's shown to be redundant and lacking versatility. They can play big... and they can play big. Ben should be playing power forward but they gave a four year contract to Horford to do the things Ben should be doing. They lack a point guard who can shoot off the dribble. They lack 3pt shooting. They lack a closer. Brett doesn't have remote control to make Ben shoot the ball when he flat out refuses to do so.

And all that said they still have a solid record and plenty of time to figure things out. They are definitely a threat come playoff time.

[VDT]

I dont think Brown is to blame. The offense was always going to be a work in progress with that roster. It is obvious that Horford, Embiid and Simmons are not a good fit and there are limited things a coach can do about that. Still despite the mediocre start the team is on pace to win 57 games, so the situation is not as dire as some people say.

[levon]

I dont think Brown is to blame. The offense was always going to be a work in progress with that roster. It is obvious that Horford, Embiid and Simmons are not a good fit and there are limited things a coach can do about that. Still despite the mediocre start the team is on pace to win 57 games, so the situation is not as dire as some people say.

It's not dire at all, but to me that's orthogonal from the following set of questions:
1) are the young players ceiling-capped at their current production and in their roles (how does the fit scale with their contract extensions)
2) if so, do you trade one to see if that change launches you into viable contender status, do you make a coaching change, or do you wait it out?

I believe great teams are always considering these questions, preferably before it becomes dire.

I would personally, as the Sixers leadership, risk a minor regression in coaching to see if a change in direction raises the ceiling of the team like Jackson to Kerr or Kidd to Bud. The payout is a championship. The risk is unclear. What is Brett Brown's value above replacement as a coach?

And this is coming from a vocal critic of Simmons and a hater of Embiid's antics. In the NBA, you change staffs 10/10 before you move young superstar prospects, regardless of what that staff has been through.

[Bum Adebayo]

Good luck OP trying to convince Sixers fans that Brett is not the right coach. Some of us have been trying for ages but it is a lost cause.

[VDT]

I dont think Brown is to blame. The offense was always going to be a work in progress with that roster. It is obvious that Horford, Embiid and Simmons are not a good fit and there are limited things a coach can do about that. Still despite the mediocre start the team is on pace to win 57 games, so the situation is not as dire as some people say.

It's not dire at all, but to me that's orthogonal from the following set of questions:
1) are the young players ceiling-capped at their current production and in their roles (how does the fit scale with their contract extensions)
2) if so, do you trade one to see if that change launches you into viable contender status, do you make a coaching change, or do you wait it out?

I believe great teams are always considering these questions, preferably before it becomes dire.

I would personally, as the Sixers leadership, risk a minor regression in coaching to see if a change in direction raises the ceiling of the team like Jackson to Kerr or Kidd to Bud. The payout is a championship. The risk is unclear. What is Brett Brown's value above replacement as a coach?

And this is coming from a vocal critic of Simmons and a hater of Embiid's antics. In the NBA, you change staffs 10/10 before you move young superstar prospects, regardless of what that staff has been through.

As i said i would be very surprised if a coach can have a high caliber offense with Horford, Embiid and Simmons in the same lineup. I think the hope is for Simmons to improve his scoring and thus to have a robust, though still not modern or high scoring, offense that coupled with the defense will be good enough to win the title.

I think also Brown is liked by the players so there is a chance there will be chemistry issues if he is fired, although these issues might arise regardless if the Sixers disappoint this year.

[levon]

As i said i would be very surprised if a coach can have a high caliber offense with Horford, Embiid and Simmons in the same lineup. I think the hope is for Simmons to improve his scoring and thus to have a robust, though still not modern or high scoring, offense that coupled with the defense will be good enough to win the title.

I think also Brown is liked by the players so there is a chance there will be chemistry issues if he is fired, although these issues might arise regardless if the Sixers disappoint this year.

Fair point about the roster. I haven't delved deep into their rotations and on-off with lineups, but I have a different hypothetical: if Brett Brown got buy-in from Ben Simmons to play as the extremely versatile 4 (think athletic and better Draymond Green), would the team have even signed Horford in the first place?

[PD28]

Brown has a more difficult job than last year, especially with the offense. Their team is better defensively, but not reliable in the half court offensively.

[Bankai]

If the Sixers dont get to the NBA Finals or even the ECF, Philly should absolutely consider firing Brown. But not right now.

Is it really Browns fault that Simmons still has no jumpshot or Embiid is frail as glass? They need to toughen up first.

[Raps in 4]

Brown isn't great, but that roster is flawed as hell.

[marcush]

Simmons and Embiid are such a poor fit offensively. I think Brown has done a good job .... it’s up to the FO to sort out the fit.

[Detective]

Brown isn't great, but that roster is flawed as hell.

It's not fair to Brown that the team was built faulty. One of Embiid or Simmons has to go, and with the premium on big men, it only makes sense that the latter would be the choice to leave. But good luck with that contract, and expect a ton of low ball offers because of how limited Simmons is.

[levon]

Simmons and Embiid are such a poor fit offensively. I think Brown has done a good job .... it’s up to the FO to sort out the fit.

Are you suggesting you'd trade one of them before making a coaching change?

[marcush]

Simmons and Embiid are such a poor fit offensively. I think Brown has done a good job .... it’s up to the FO to sort out the fit.

Are you suggesting you'd trade one of them before making a coaching change?

Not one of them. I’d trade Ben. Would have done it a long time ago.

[levon]

Simmons and Embiid are such a poor fit offensively. I think Brown has done a good job .... it’s up to the FO to sort out the fit.

Are you suggesting you'd trade one of them before making a coaching change?

Not one of them. I’d trade Ben. Would have done it a long time ago.

You're saying Ben's value over replacement as a player is outweighed by his poor fit on the Sixers and that warrants a change of scenery, even though he's young. But do we have any data about how Brown's value over replacement as a coach goes up against his fit with the Sixers stars, both culturally and scheme-wise? I think this is the most interesting problem in the NBA from a GM perspective.

[marcush]

Are you suggesting you'd trade one of them before making a coaching change?

Not one of them. I’d trade Ben. Would have done it a long time ago.

You're saying Ben's value over replacement as a player is outweighed by his poor fit on the Sixers and that warrants a change of scenery, even though he's young. But do we have any data about how Brown's value over replacement as a coach goes up against his fit with the Sixers stars, both culturally and scheme-wise? I think this is the most interesting problem in the NBA from a GM perspective.

I’m saying that it is clear Simmons and Embiid do not fit offensively and Brown has done a good a job as possible to fit such contrasting players. Ben is always going to want to play fast and Jo is better off slow. I’m not naive enough to think a new coach is going to change much.