It’s been a while since we last received information about the Sixers’ vacant general manager position. The last thing we heard was that in July the Sixers were reportedly interested in San Antonio Spurs general manager R.C. Buford and former Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin was once a leading candidate for the position.
However, we can now add some new names to the list of potential general manager applicants for the Sixers. A few days ago, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that the Sixers received permission to interview Larry Harris of the Golden State Warriors, Gersson Rosas of the Houston Rockets, and Justin Vanik of the Utah Jazz.
Wojnarowski also mentioned in his report that the Sixers’ front office was going to start meeting with candidates next week (this week). Along those same lines, Keith Pompey of Philly.com reported on Monday that the Sixers will interview those three candidates starting on Tuesday.
It does not come as a surprise that the Sixers’ ownership is taking their time with finding the right candidate for the position. As they saw with the Bryan Colangelo situation, things can go south real fast and leave a bad taste in your mouth.
Last week, Sixers managing partner Josh Harris told Wojnarowski that they are going to have a selective list and do not have a problem with keeping together the current landscape of the team’s front office for this upcoming season.
“There are a very small number of elite sitting GMs and they’re generally under contract with teams for a long time,” Harris said. “Those situations tend not to change much. For us, we need someone to add real value, which includes looking at young, up-and-coming basketball executives and non-traditional candidates.”
“We’re going to have a pretty selective list,” Harris explained. “This is not going to be huge tournament. We’re going to talk to some people who aren’t sitting GMs who could add value to our situation.”
If we are going based off of what Harris said, then each of the three perspective candidates fit the bill.
Larry Harris used to be the general manager for the Milwaukee Bucks between 2003-08, but since then has been with Golden State. In 2015, he was named the team’s assistant general manager, after spending time on the sidelines and in the front office.
Rosas, however, has had a short stint as a general manager in 2013 with the Dallas Mavericks. Other than that, he has spent 18 seasons with the Houston Rockets as the right-hand man to Daryl Morey.
The Sixers reportedly had interest in Morey this summer, while Rosas received serious consideration for the Charlotte Hornets’ GM job earlier this year.
Furthermore, Zanik has experience being a player agent, along with holding the assistant general manager title with the Jazz back in 2012. He eventually left Utah for the Bucks in 2016, but returned to the Jazz a year later.
Philadelphia cannot go wrong with any of candidates, specifically Rosas and Zanik, who look primed to be NBA general managers very soon.
