Brett Brown’s Disappointment Is Bad News For Philadelphia 76ers

While Sam Hinkie did not do a good job putting ready-made talent on the floor, the former Philadelphia 76ers GM was very good at acquiring assets and the biggest one arguably could have been head coach Brett Brown.

Sixers fans can spot the real deal from a phony and, for the past three years, Brown has been the real deal. With zero talent, Brown has won some games that had people scratching their heads. He even took the Golden State Warriors to the buzzer with possibly the worst talent in NBA history.  Make no mistake about it, the guy can flat-out coach and is the kind of guy the organization wants to keep once the injured (Joel Embiid) and overseas (Dario Saric) talent is able to play. Mix in two future lottery picks with those guys and this team is going to be very good very soon.

That’s why Brown’s palpable disappointment with the “resignation” of Hinkie has to be taken seriously. Brown was adamant on Thursday about how Hinkie deserves to stay and see his vision through. Hinkie hired Brown and the two had a good working relationship. The same cannot be said for Hinkie’s likely successor, Bryan Colangelo.  In the same interview, Brown was brutally honest by answering a question about how well he knew Bryan Colangelo with “not well.” With director of basketball operations Jerry Colangelo, Bryan’s father, bringing both his son now and earlier Mike D’Antoni to be Brown’s assistant coach, the writing could be on the wall for Brown.

The Phoenix Suns are snooping around for a head coach, and Brown now has an attractive out if he finds this situation to be untenable. And judging from his remarks, no one will be surprised if he does.