Bob Myers will have the opportunity to reshape the Sixers in his image.
On Tuesday, the Sixers fired president of basketball operations Daryl Morey after six years, days after the team’s season ended with a second-round sweep by the Knicks.
Myers was hired in October as president of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment—the umbrella company for the 76ers and NHL’s Devils—and will now lead the search to replace Morey. He previously led the Warriors front office from 2012 to 2023.
Head coach Nick Nurse appears safe for now despite Morey’s firing.
Myers will run the Sixers front office while searching for an executive, according to NBA reporter Jake Fischer, who also reported that NBPA executive director Andre Iguodala will not be considered for the role. Iguodala played for Myers in Golden State and spent his first eight seasons in Philadelphia.
Harris’s Devils also hired a new general manager in April. (Harris and Blitzer also own the NFL’s Commanders and a stake in Premier League club Crystal Palace.)
The Sixers have a talented young duo to build around in Tyrese Maxey and V.J. Edgecombe, but still owes more than $230 million to aging and often-injured stars Joel Embiid and Paul George. The team is projected to be $26.2 million under the first apron this summer and has control over its own draft picks for the next seven seasons in addition to an unprotected first-round pick from the Clippers in 2028.
While with the Warriors, Myers helmed four championship teams. As an assistant GM, he helped draft Klay Thompson No. 11 overall in 2011 and a year later, selected Draymond Green No. 35 overall in his first year as GM to pair with Stephen Curry, whom he inherited. Myers signed Kevin Durant in 2016, but also rounded out the roster with effective high-value signings like as JaVale McGee, David West, and Iguodala.
The Sixers haven’t advanced past the second round in more than two decades, when Allen Iverson led the franchise to the 2001 NBA Finals and have failed to maximize the teams built around Embiid. Does Myers want an executive to build around Maxey and Edgecombe or try to maximize the rapidly closing window with Embiid and George?
Myers’s hire may hinge on which direction he prefers.