The Philadelphia 76ers announced a number of promotions in their basketball operations department, making it seem like they may stick with their current front office structure without an official general manager this season.

Sixers managing partner Josh Harris spoke with ESPN on Monday, telling them that it's possible they could enter the season with their front office as is.

"It does leave open that possibility," Harris told ESPN on Monday. "We prefer to find an elite talent who can lead us, but we aren't going to compromise."

The Sixers and Bryan Colangelo parted ways back in June and since then, Brett Brown has donned the interim general manager title.

Harris points out that a number of the league's top executives are under contract and it's unlikely they are given permission to interview with the Sixers, even if they wanted to. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Philadelphia has been gathering information on several assistant GM candidates and non-top executives in recent weeks and that the next pool of candidates would have a far easier ability to accept a job with the Sixers.

"There are a very small number of elite sitting GMs and they're generally under contract with teams for a long time," Harris told ESPN. "Those situations tend not to change much. For us, we need someone to add real value, which includes looking at young up-and-coming basketball executives and non-traditional candidates.

The search for a general manager continues and it is becoming more and more likely that Brett Brown will retain the interim title through this season at least. The goal isn't to have Brown have the GM title for the long-term, but Harris continued to preach patience as their search progresses.

"I think we have one of the best, if not the best, situation in the NBA - particularly for the leader of a front office," Harris told ESPN. "We have great young players, lots of cap space and stable ownership willing to invest and spend in the team. We're going to be patient and try to find the right person. The next year is going to be incredibly important for us, and we have a real desire to find the right person now - but if not, we are incredibly comfortable with the existing staff and we'll move forward from there."

Brandon Apter is a Sixers contributor to 97.3 ESPN. Follow him on Twitter @bapter23.

 

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