The 76ers Are Reportedly Adding Mike D’Antoni As An Assistant Coach

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It’s been quite the week for the Philadelphia 76ers. On Monday, it was announced that the team would add Jerry Colangelo to its front office as its chairman of basketball operations. Now, the Sixers are reportedly on the verge adding one of the biggest free agents in coaching to its staff: former Suns, Knicks, and Lakers coach, Mike D’Antoni. If the move does occur, it will have happened right after the team gave head coach Brett Brown a two-year contract extension.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo, D’Antoni has discussed the move with both Brown and Colangelo and he could join the staff by the end of the month. After taking off last season, D’Antoni told Sports Illustrated over the summer that he had the itch to return to the sidelines. Currently, D’Antoni is tending to his 101-year-old father and advising his younger brother, who is the head coach at Marshall University.

D’Antoni would be quite the fit in Philadelphia. He has ties to Colangelo through both of their involvements with USA Basketball – Colangelo is the chairman and D’Antoni was an assistant – and his famed Seven Seconds or Less offense in Phoenix is considered a major influence for the way many teams around the league play. In fact, the Sixers are one of the more up-tempo squads in the league and attempt more threes per game than all but seven teams, so D’Antoni seems like a natural fit on Brown’s staff.

It’s probably safe to assume that D’Antoni isn’t being brought on as a head coach-in-waiting, considering Brown’s recent extension and D’Antoni’s desire to be a head coach sooner rather than later. Still, this may be the most ambitious move that Philadelphia has made in the Sam Hinkie era, even if Jerry Colangelo was the person who made it happen.

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