The Philadelphia 76ers have fired head coach Brett Brown, first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski and later confirmed by the Sixers.
Woj also reports that while Elton Brand is likely to "continue to oversee basketball operations," the front office is "undergoing significant evaluation and change is looming."
The Athletic's Shams Charania lists Villanova head coach among four possible candidates to replace Brown.
The 76ers, after numerous roster moves this offseason, finished as just the No. 6 seed in the East this season. They were swept in the first-round by the Boston Celtics after losing Ben Simmons for the entire postseason due to a knee injury.
Brown, 59, was hired to be the Sixers' head coach during the 2013 offseason under then general manager Sam Hinkie. Brown helped the Sixers get through a complete rebuild, one of the NBA's most substantial rebuilds of all-time, going 75-253 in his first four seasons. However, the Sixers achieved 50 or more wins in each of the last three seasons, something the franchise has not accomplished since 1983-84 to 1985-86 seasons.
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In the playoffs, however, the Sixers have been unable to get past the second round and many have been critical of Brown, expressing the desire to give the team's young all-stars in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons a new voice.
As for Brand, 41, he will likely remain a big part of Philadelphia's front office, at least for now. Brand was promoted from GM of the Delaware 87ers to the Philadelphia 76ers on September 20th, 2018 following the Bryan Colangelo burner account fiasco. Brand had no previous NBA front office experience, but was thrust into the role at a critical time for the franchise.
Under Brand, the Sixers traded ascending, productive, and affordable players in Robert Covington and Dario Saric for Jimmy Butler early in 2018 to chase that elusive championship ring. They also traded for Tobias Harris, sending, most notably, sharp shooter Landry Shamet and draft picks to the Clippers.
However, this past summer, the Sixers did not re-sign Butler, eventually sending him to Miami in return for 26-year-old guard Josh Richardson. Harris, in contrast, did receive that 5 year, $180 million near max contract. By not retaining Butler and JJ Redick, the Sixers used their remaining money to sign 34-year-old former Celtics big man Al Horford to a four-year, $109 million contract.
The Harris and Horford contracts will likely hinder the Sixers for years to come. Harris, however, is just 28 and has consistently averaged around 20 points per game over his last three seasons and is a solid third-best player to go along with Simmons and Embiid, despite his gaudy contract.
Horford, at age 34 coupled with his awkward fit alongside Embiid, is a situation that looks bleak. The Sixers could look to trade Horford this offseason, but after a dreadful 2019-20 season Philly would almost need to beg another team to take that bloated contract -- and by beg I mean, include some other attractive assets, something the Sixers are extremely thin of.
The good news for Sixers fans, or the optimistic outlook at least, is despite a very frustrating and injury/pandemic-riddled 2019-20 campaign, Embiid and Simmons have played in just two postseasons together. They are still only 26 and 24 years old, respectively, and they're both -- along with Harris -- under contract with the Sixers through the 2022-23 season, when Embiid is set to become a free-agent.
All of that still makes the Sixers an attractive team with upside for any coach.