76ers coach Brown says team will hire a GM before season

The Philadelphia 76ers will hire a general manager to replace Bryan Colangelo before the start of the season, coach Brett Brown said Tuesday.

Colangelo resigned in June as the 76ers' president of basketball operations after what an investigation concluded was "careless and in some instances reckless" sharing of sensitive team information on Twitter.

Brown took the GM role on an interim basis, and the search for a new general manager has only recently heated up. Brown, entering his sixth season, said he had no interest in holding both jobs.

"That is my expectation, that we will have a general manager before the season starts," Brown said. "This is not something that interests me. I do not believe in the role that I have as a head coach that it's tenable. ... We will have, to the best of my knowledge, a general manager appointed, announced by the start of the season. And it's not me. It was never going to be."

The Sixers have reportedly interviewed Utah Jazz assistant general manager Justin Zanik and Houston Rockets vice president Gersson Rosas and have also talked to internal candidates including assistant GM Ned Cohen, player personnel executive Marc Eversley and vice president of basketball operations Elton Brand.

"I think I know what's going to happen," Brown said. "But in relation to declaring something, I can't do that today."

The Sixers won 52 games last season and beat Miami in the first round of the playoffs before they were eliminated in the conference semis by Boston. Under Brown's watch, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons have blossomed into two of the top young players in the league.

The Sixers were rocked when an independent review found that Colangelo's wife, Barbara Bottini, operated four Twitter accounts it investigated, and she admitted using private information to criticize the Sixers and rival colleagues.

Expected to become major players in free agency, the Sixers mostly sat the summer out.

Colangelo and his predecessor Sam Hinkie, who hired Brown, had the final say in player personnel decisions. While the power structure hasn't yet been drawn up because of the GM uncertainty, Brown said with this hire he's looking "for a partner" in having the final say.

"I do have a voice. I've always had a voice here," Brown said. "I think as the head coach, it should be that, to a point. I get the role of the general manager."

Brown said losing Colangelo was a "game-changer" but said his absence or lack of a general manager had nothing to do with the Sixers striking out in their bid to land LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, a lower-tier free agent — or anyone beyond a couple of modest pickups such as Wilson Chandler.

"I think we would all be naive to think free agents choose a basketball program because of a general manager," Brown said. "They come because of Joel and Ben. And I hope the coach has got a little bit to do with it."

He added: "The general manager situation had zero to do with us not being able to acquire one of those talents."

Brown, who took the 76ers from 10 wins to the third seed in the Eastern Conference in just two seasons, agreed in May to a three-year contract extension that runs through the 2021-2022 season.

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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Paolo Banchero had 31 points and 14 rebounds, Jalen Suggs added 24 points and the Orlando Magic handed Cleveland the worst playoff loss in franchise history, winning 121-83 on Thursday night to cut the Cavaliers’ lead to 2-1 in their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Franz Wagner finished with 16 points and eight assists for the Magic, who led by 43 points in the fourth quarter on the way to the third-largest margin of victory in a playoff game. They earned their first playoff victory since 2019 and the first on their home floor since April 26, 2011.

They can even the series with a victory at home Sunday.

Jarrett Allen had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, who shot 39% from the field and 23.5% from 3-point range. Caris LeVert added 15 points and Donovan Mitchell had 13 points and seven assists.

76ERS 125, KNICKS 114

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid scored 50 points, making all four 3-point attempts and scoring 18 in a potential series-shifting third quarter to lead Philadelphia to a win over New York in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Embiid boldly stated “we’re going to win this series” after the 76ers dropped Game 2.

With one of the finest postseason efforts of his career, Embiid became the third player to ever score 50 points against the Knicks in the postseason and kept the hope of a Philadelphia series comeback very much alive.

The Knicks lead the series 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday in Philadelphia.

Embiid was 13 of 19 from the floor overall, made 19 of 21 free throws and hit five 3-pointers.

NUGGETS 112, LAKERS 105

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Aaron Gordon had 29 points and 15 rebounds, Nikola Jokic added 24 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists, and Denver moved to the brink of the second round with a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of their first-round series..

Jamal Murray scored 22 points as the defending NBA champion Nuggets won their 11th consecutive meeting with LeBron James and the Lakers in dominating style.

Michael Porter Jr. added 20 points for Denver, which took control in the third quarter and cruised through the final minutes to its fifth straight road win over Los Angeles, starting with its sweep of last season’s Western Conference finals.

Game 4 is Saturday night in Los Angeles. No NBA team has ever rallied from an 0-3 playoff deficit.

Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony (50) makes a shot as he gets past Cleveland Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill (5) during the second half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)