Brand retired as a player in '16, making him one of the youngest GMs in the NBANBAE/GETTY IMAGES
There is a perception that new 76ers GM Elton Brand is in a "powerless position," and his job is one that "few -- if any -- accomplished general managers around the league wanted," according to Keith Pompey of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Something about "not having the final decision or selecting your own front-office staff was the deal breaker" for 76ers GM candidates despite the team "having two young stars" in C Joel Embiid and G Ben Simmons. Brand will also have to "deal with an ownership group that has been heavily involved behind the scenes." Pompey: "Can Brand keep the ownership group out of decision-making?" Sources have said that limited partner David Heller, a businessman and former Goldman Sachs exec, was "running the show" in former Bryan Colangelo's absence, and that he, more than coach Brett Brown, was the "acting general manager at least through the NBA draft process if not the whole offseason." Sources have said that co-Managing Partner Josh Harris "listens entirely to Heller." The team "denies those claims and says that, while Heller was involved in the draft process, he isn't as powerful or as involved as sources made him out to be" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 9/23). In Boston, Gary Washburn wrote by naming Brand their GM, the 76ers "offered hope for ex-players to gain front office positions without waiting a long time." Brand retired after the '16 season, in which he "served as more of a player-assistant coach with the 76ers." The fact that Brand was "given a GM position before his 40th birthday is a testament to his talent and potential" (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/23).
