Mike Gansey wants fountains, not drains. Can new 76ers president find a path toward NBA title?

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Give Mike Gansey a pinch of credit for his acknowledgment of the most obvious part of the condition of the franchise as he takes over — kind of, sort of — the 76ers.

“It’s not a championship caliber team right now,” Gansey said.

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Gansey is already at work as Philadelphia’s latest president of basketball operations, trying to find ways to raise the team to a championship level, while deeply hindered by near-untradeable, unwanted contracts tied to aging and unreliable Joel Embiid and Paul George.

Can the Sixers still expect to win a title with Embiid and George on the roster while also trying to build around Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe as the long-term centerpieces for any kind of championship future?

Gansey had few hard solutions — “I just got here,” he noted — at his first press conference Monday at the 76ers’ complex in New Jersey. He certainly can’t solve all that ails the Sixers on Day 1. Those obstacles include closing the gap on the soaring New York Knicks, and getting into the NBA Finals, a task that seems unlikely to be accomplished with Embiid and George on the roster.

The 43-year-old Gansey, a Northeast Ohio native, who played collegiately at West Virginia, was hired last week to replace Daryl Morey. Morey was fired last month after the 76ers were eliminated in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

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The 76ers were easily ousted by the New York Knicks to end Morey’s sixth season in charge, and the organization quickly decided that someone else would lead the basketball operations department.

Enter Gansey.

Gansey joined the Cavaliers in 2011 and had worked as their general manager since 2022 and will lead a bit of revamped front office. Jameer Nelson, the 2004 AP Player of the Year at nearby Saint Joseph’s, was promoted to general manager and replaced former Sixer Elton Brand.

They will report to former Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers, president of sports for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the 76ers.

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Myers has his own questions about the franchise.

“We have to become great…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mike-gansey-wants-fountains-not-175026776.html

Author : DAN GELSTON

Publish date : 2026-06-08 17:50:00

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