Pelton: Kudos To Sixers & Brett Brown For Jumping On Suns’ Trade
With Sixers Head Coach Brett Brown serving in a dual role since June 7th as the Interim "General Manager" and the leader of the Basketball Operations department, the Sixers emerged from the 2018 NBA Draft with three perimeter scorers who are good defenders (Zhaire Smith, Landry Shamet, Shake Milton) along with three future second round picks and the Miami Heat's 2021 First Round Draft pick. While the Sixers have not placed a specific timetable on when they will hire their next General Manager, the installation of Brett Brown as the man to oversee Basketball Operations in the interim is a clear signal of the organization maintaining stability as they go through the 2018 NBA Offseason. No one was truly sure how well Brown would function in his new Front Office role, but there are those who are happy Brown is in that role as as the 76ers work to improve their roster for the 2018-19 season.
ESPN.com NBA Insider Kevin Pelton joined Mike Gill on Monday with his perspective on the job Brett Brown did at Thursday Night's NBA Draft:
"It’s particularly impressive with Brett Brown as the head coach in that kind of leadership position to see (Sixers) take such a long term view, getting a pick that is 3 years down the road, has the potential to be very valuable. Clearly they evaluated (Mikal Bridges and Zhaire Smith as) relatively similar prospects, they liked Bridges a little bit more and that’s why they went ahead and took him at number 10. Then when Phoenix was interested and willing to give them a chance to get Zhaire Smith and then also that future unprotected pick from Miami - I’m stunned that the Suns were willing to make that deal, you see almost no unprotected picks get traded anymore. Obviously it’s not (the Suns') pick so it’s not the same kind of downside as if you become a bad team and lose your own pick, but still it is very rare to see that. But kudos to the Sixers and Brett Brown for jumping on that opportunity."
Checkout what Pelton had to say about the 76ers option this off-season, perspective on Markelle Fultz future, and where he expects the destinations to be for the big names of 2018 NBA Free Agent Class