NO, that doesn’t mean Ed Stefanski is out.
He just loses some power and no longer is the main guy on the basketball side of the Sixers operations. Stefanski still retains his GM title and responsibilities.
The official announcement will be in a press conference today.
What does this mean?
Well according some rumors, Rod Thorn takes over as the big dog, will all the power. He will be the one making player personnel moves and big basketball decisions. Stefanski, well looks like he just got a big demotion.
At the very least the Sixers have added another proven, well respect basketball person to the organization. It’s a step in the right direction and on the surface a step should help this team in the future.
It does indicate that the Sixers certainly have lost confidence in Stefanski’s ability to run the club on his own (as we all have).
Thorn and Stefanski did some good things in New Jersey and took a team lead by Jason Kidd to back-to-back Finals, so they have a track record of success together. The problem, we don’t have Jason Kidd.
So what matters if what is Thorn’s plan to upgrade this Sixers roster. A roster that most basketball “experts” are predicting will only win 30ish games and miss the playoffs this season.
What I don’t understand is, why Rod Thorn and why keep Ed Stefanski on and pay him to be a Thorn’s lackey again? Why not:
- Kevin Pritchard,
- Rich Cho or
- Mark Warkentien
if you were going to bring in some new blood and change the balance of power in the front office?
Time will tell. Rod Thorn has been very good at times, and he has his work cut out for him in Philly.
None the less, this move along with bringing in Doug Collins are steps in the right direction. We certainly could have done worse (like standing pat).
But, sooner rather than later we need to stop taking some big hops. And that means significant roster retooling.
please recycle.
I’m super excited for us to acquire Kenyon Martin and Richard Jefferson
Maybe if the Nets moves to Brooklyn and change their name, the Sixers can just fire Collins, bring in Lawrence Frank, and take over as the Philadelphia Nets.
Oh, no! Born in Princeton, W. VA!
http://www.wvuvarsityclub.com/profiles/thorn_rod.html
He’s no stranger to the Philly vibe. Rod Thorn played on Al Bianchi (18 mpg guard on original 76ers team) -coached original Seattle Supersonics in ’67-’68 with local-flavored roster that included Mahdi Abdul-Rahman, formerly Walt Hazzard, of Overbrook High School; Tom Meschery, a scrappy rookie Phila. Warrior forward in ’61-’62 who admired Wilt’s work from up close, a Rudy Larusso analogue; Bob Weiss, Easton native/Penn State Nittany Lion star of ’64-’65 20-4 NCAA tournament team/2nd yr. guard on Sixers 68-13 Champions; Bob “Golden” Rule, sweet-shooting lefty center (Bob Lanier Lite) of nadir years Sixers, who never met an offensive player he couldn’t lose sight of; and George “Jiff” Wilson, who worked the center position with a limited repertoire in tandem with Darrall Imhoff on Jack Ramsey’s 55-win ’68-’69 squad (which weathered an early big hit when
powerful forward Lucious Jackson, playing the best basketball of his career, suffered a torn achilles tendon at the 25 game mark).
Somewhat fittingly, Supersonics smelled like the refinery-polluted air off the Penrose Ave. Bridge during their maiden voyage, carving out a 23-59 record.
Well, this is like a small scale version of Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld together again to make another “Seinfeld” run. They were at their best when they were working together and collaborating as the creators, producers, and writers. David and Seinfeld were strokes of genius in developing Seinfeld and to have a unique spin on a reunion on Curb Your Enthusiasm.
I think Stefanski was better off as just the GM, while Thorn handled the Presidential duties with the Nets. Thorn was the main guy who supervised Stefanski’s moves before giving the OK.
Stefanski made the wrong moves last year, and now the Sixers organization wants to make sure things are done correctly to right the ship for sure. That is why Thorn is here to be the President and to make the final decision– the Yes or No!
This is a great move by the Sixers and this team finally has some real professionals finally working here. A long time coming for that to happen.
In a subtle way, the Sixers are having a great offseason! Let’s hope it works come October with that tough schedule!
GO SIXERS!!
Chief Executive trade: Stefanski, peppy but plainly undertalented minor leaguer, for Thorn, yesterday’s major leaguer. Could work to Sixers’ advantage with supply room sufficiently stocked with Geritol, Carlson’s Fish Oil and Metamucil.
It’s an OK move, but nothing to get too excited about. While Rod had some success early on, his team digressed over the years, to the point where they only won 12 games last season; still this hire is better than Ed going solo. However, I wouldn’t call it the best possible move that we could have made. What this move does do is keep the Management team, reasonably, status quo, something Comcast surely likes - moneywise.
Dannie asked the question, why is he keeping Stefanski? Well, my take is Management wants someone in that position who’ll allow Rod to call the shots and not make waves. The guy’s Dannie mentioned as viable candidates would want the full authority that’s normally allotted to the GM position. With Stefanski, Rod can usurp his authority and it wont be a problem, because they had that same relationship in Jersey. He knows what’s coming, and he’s OK with it, [Rod will be calling the shots, and he'll, (Ed), be doing the leg-work].
Lebron named captain.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-erskine-20100812,0,2432685.column
L.A. Steve, I agree; in fact I read recently the B.King hire was done because A.Johnson will be making the decisions and King has the right personality to go along with those decisions and not make waves.
It has been a good yet unflashy offseason; Turner, Collins and Thorn add legitimacy to the franchise and though better choices are available it is better than Luuko or Snider sticking their noses in it.
L.A. Steve - Well, what I really wanted to know is why did they bring in Thorn at all vs. guys like Pritchard, Cho and the like?
They could have just fired Stefanski outright and brought in someone to take over at President and GM. Or allow someone to come in and be President and hire their own GM (like the Pritchard/Penn relationship).
So the question is why Thorn, not why keep Stefanski.
Dannie, the oddest statement came from Luuko; ” we weren!t talking to anybody else but when Rod became available we decided to move on it.”
Hey Jumpin, some good comments on D.Johnson and Honeycomb [G. Johnson] on Hoopshype in the rumors section. That was a real strong hall of fame class!!!
Could there be a better threesome to defend Miamithrice than Scotty, Gus and Dennis ? It is good to see defense valued at the games! highest level !!
Thanks for the reference, suede. Your 3 would work just fine. I’ll take mine off 1 team, ’75 GS Warriors, and defensively use Phil Smith, Derrick Dickey and Bill Bridges (w/Clifford Ray to clean-up) to make Miami mice.
Caveat: on second thought, above scenario might not work in the 2010 Stern NBA with a ”tenderized” trio of referees aware of celebrity players and fundamental economic play.
“Well, what I really wanted to know is why did they bring in Thorn at all vs. guys like Pritchard, Cho and the like?” - Dannie.
That question is a little more difficult, but for the sake of conversation I’ll put forth some theories, take your pick as to what make sense:
1 – They actually like Ed and want him to remain with the organization; they don’t think all the bad moves were his fault, and he deserves more time. After all, he’s a Philly guy and that seems to carry a lot of weight.
2- Money - When hired, the new President/GM may want to bring in his own team of people, and that could get expensive. He may want to replace any, or all, of the following positions: Assistant GM, a Player Personnel guy, and members of the scouting department. That’s a lot of salaries to be on the hook for, both coming and going. Now, I’m not saying all the positions would go, but it could get messy and expensive.
3 – It’s the Sixers, when is the last time they really went out and made a big play for an up-an-coming young guy that has shown early success. History shows us that they never go outside the box and pull off a great move, it’s always a conventional, status quo, thing.
The organization is better structured today then it was prior to the move. Collins, Stefanski & Thorn. I suspect Lukko & Snyder have had to spend too much time dwelling on the Sixers and don’t want to be as involved. Thorn being a trusted NBA exec can assume full baskeball decision making responsibility. In Ed they didn’t trust. Thorn became available. No major shakeup required. Could’ve been LB???
Nice quip by Yahoo’s Kelly Dwyer on Billy King (in an article analyzing the Nets/Pacers/Hornets/Rockets trade):
“Because New Jersey is run by Billy King, I had to double-check to see if what I thought wasTroy Murphy’s(notes) expiring contract was, in actuality, a deal with four years and $42 million remaining on it. Just had to follow-up. It turns out that King, the much-beleaguered formerPhiladelphia 76ers boss, actually ran out of the gate with a fantastic move for his new team.”
…he also had a nice piece summing up Pippen’s career:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Scottie-Pippen-is-a-Hall-of-Famer?urn=nba-262303