Rumor Report: D’Antoni Gaining Momentum in Philly

By Kevin McCormick, Sports Talk Philly Editor

It feels like the Sixers could be close to a decision on who their next head coach is going to be. From the beginning, it felt like Ty Lue was the top option and the job was his to lose, but recently another name looks to be emerging as the frontrunner.

Last week a report came out that Elton Brand and the Sixers were preparing to conduct their next round of interviews with Ty Lue, Mike D'Antoni, and Billy Donovan. Now that Donovan has accepted the position to become the head coach of the Chicago Bulls, it looks like a two-man race now.

Recent reports have come out with a lot of links to Mike D'Antoni and the Sixers. The first one came out Wednesday morning from The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor.

Rumblings of Mike D'Antoni going to the Sixers have gotten much louder this past day. Nothing's final, I'm just intrigued since his preferred style isn't a fit for Philly's roster. It'd be weird. Would hiring him be a precursor to changes to modernize the team? MDA does love CP3.

— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) September 23, 2020

It is no surprise that D'Antoni is in the final mix of names to become the head coach. Many people speculated that he would replace Brett Brown years ago when he was an Assistant under Brown before becoming the head coach of the Rockets.

These reports are puzzling as M'Dantoni and the Sixers do not look like the perfect fit. His style is fast-paced and focused on perimeter play, two things that aren't strong areas of the Sixers' current roster. Keith Smith of Yahoo sports later touched on that same issue.

Starting to hear a lot of buzz that the Philadelphia 76ers are are letting teams know they are open to trade talks if they hire Mike D'Antoni to be their next head coach. Philadelphia realizes that current roster, with all the bigs, isn't built to be a successful D'Antoni team.

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) September 23, 2020

It looks like we could potentially see a big makeover from the Sixers this offseason. After seeing how "bully ball" and multiple bigs did not work out in the postseason, the team might be preparing to go in a different direction.

If modernizing the Sixers' play is the goal, then Mike D'Antoni is the guy to do it. He has had success with it in the past and his style is tailor-made for a player like Ben Simmons. Seeing this growing reports gives the impression that the race for the Sixers' coaching job is tighter than what we might have expected in the beginning.