New NBA Rumors on 76ers' List of Candidates to Replace Daryl Morey After Playoff Exit

With former Golden State Warriors president of basketball operations and general manager Bob Myers leading the search to replace the fired Daryl Morey as the top basketball executive for the Philadelphia 76ers, a number of prospective hires have now been floated.

According to NBA reporter Marc Stein, "There is a widespread belief... that Myers would want to explore trying to hire Onsi Saleh away from Atlanta after Saleh worked under Myers in Golden State before moving on to the Hawks. The likelihood relayed to me, though, is that Saleh is expected to remain with the Hawks. Permission from Atlanta would be needed to pursue him and would presumably be difficult to secure after Saleh just finished second in Executive of the Year balloting to Boston's Brad Stevens."

Stein also noted that there have "been rumbles" about the Sixers having interest in Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, though he's still under contract and Minnesota would need to give permission to the Sixers for talks to even happen. That seems unlikely.

That report also indicated that there has been "chatter all season" about Philly assistant general manager Jameer Nelson having his role expanded, though whether the team would promote him to a lead executive role before he's operated as the general manager is questionable.

Finally, Stein reported that Sixers consultant Neil Olshey (who has ties to Myers) and Oklahoma City executive Vince Rozman (who previously worked for the Sixers) are among the names who "have been mentioned in connection with Philadelphia at this early stage."

The new lead executive will inherit a team with plenty of talent but the massive and likely unmovable contracts of Joel Embiid and Paul George, limiting the team's flexibility for building out the roster. The backcourt of Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe has the team set up to be good for many years to come, however.