When talking to Sixers media for the first time last week, Bob Myers said he’d like to have a new front office boss in place by the 2026 NBA Draft on June 23.
Myers, a longtime executive with the Golden State Warriors and the president of sports for HBSE, is currently running basketball operations for the Sixers while searching for a candidate to lead day-to-day operations.
Over the weekend, renowned NBA insider Marc Stein put out a few names he’s hearing as candidates. (As always, we strongly suggest subscribing to Stein’s newsletter and reading it in full.)
Onsi Saleh was the first name mentioned. Saleh is currently the GM of the Atlanta Hawks, but spent time working under Myers with the Warriors. Saleh would be quite the get for Myers, but it doesn’t seem likely. The biggest hurdle is the Sixers would need to get permission from the Hawks to even get an interview. That seems highly unlikely after Atlanta’s success this past season and the foundation Saleh has built there. This feels similar to when Josh Harris and company began sniffing around Daryl Morey when he was still with the Houston Rockets. The Rockets denied the Sixers’ request for an interview.
The other two candidates are interesting for very different reasons.
One of the names brought up was Vince Rozman. Rozman was hired by Sam Hinkie all the way back in 2013 and stayed with the Sixers in various roles through much of the front-office turmoil over the last decade. In 2022, he left the franchise to pursue an opportunity working under Sam Presti for the Oklahoma Thunder. Rozman is currently still serving in his role as VP of identification and intelligence, primarily overseeing the organization’s draft evaluation and strategy.
The 2020 NBA Draft was Morey’s best night running the Sixers. He got off the contracts of Al Horford and Josh Richardson while acquiring Danny Green and Seth Curry. He also selected Tyrese Maxey, Isaiah Joe and Paul Reed. If you recall, Morey was hired mere weeks before the draft. The man charged with draft prep and getting Morey up to speed was Rozman. Of all the gettable names tossed around, Rozman might be the most intriguing. He has experience, familiarity with the organization (though he’s been detached enough to come in with clear eyes) and is currently working under arguably the best executive in the business.
The other name brought up was longtime executive Neil Olshey. Olshey boasts an impressive and varied resume, but he comes with legitimate red flags. When he was serving as the lead executive for the Portland Trail Blazers in 2021, he came under investigation following reports of a toxic work environment. He was fired by the organization later that year.
He was also mired in a bit of controversy over his decision to hire Chauncey Billups as head coach in 2021. Billups was accused of raping a woman in 1997 while playing for the Boston Celtics. Billups and teammate Ron Mercer were not criminally charged, but both settled civil suits in 2000. Olshey insisted the organization did its own investigation and felt comfortable hiring Billups. During Billups’ introductory press conference, Olshey shut down any questions related to the accusations.
Aside from all that, Olshey is 61 years old and has never gotten a team to the NBA Finals. Bringing him on would feel like Morey 2.0 with unnecessary baggage. It would be a fairly uninspiring hire.
While Stein didn’t suggest he was a candidate for the main job, he did talk about Jameer Nelson as a person the organization is high on and would like to keep around — and possibly elevate. The St. Joe’s alum, who spent 14 years in the NBA, was hired by the Sixers to serve as assistant general manager of their G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, back in 2020. He was promoted to assistant GM of the Sixers in May of 2025.
Depending on the future of Elton Brand, who’s still in his role as the team’s GM, it feels like there’s a possibility of a new president of basketball operations with Nelson serving under them as the team’s GM or even the VP of basketball operations.
It hasn’t even been a full week since Morey was let go, so expect more names and possibilities to be thrown out in the coming weeks. We’ll update you when any new reports surface.
Update: Stein has added two more names to the list.
Gansey has spent his entire career as an executive with the Cavaliers, beginning in 2012 as the team’s director of developmental league operations. He became GM of Cleveland’s G League affiliate, the Charge, and won league’s Executive of the Year Award in 2017. He was promoted to GM of the Cavaliers under president of basketball operations Koby Altman ahead of the 2021-22 season. Cleveland will be playing the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, a place the Sixers haven’t been in over 25 years.
U’Ren was in our initial list of possible candidates we published the day after Morey was let go. Here’s what we wrote about him:
Yet another candidate with an interesting background, U’Ren started his NBA journey as a video coordinator with the Phoenix Suns back in 2009. He then moved on to the Golden State Warriors as manager of advanced scouting and special assistant to the head coach in 2014. The team’s general manager at the time — Bob Myers. U’Ren is famously credited for the Warriors’ Death Lineup, which helped the team to a title. He was promoted to director of basketball operations in 2018, working under Myers.
In 2023, he was hired as general manager of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. He helped turn an aging team that finished 9-31 in 2003 to a WNBA Finals appearance last season. The Myers’ connection is there, but U’Ren is a pretty intriguing candidate in general. Is he ready and willing to make the leap to an NBA gig such as this? We’ll see.
The inclusion of guys like Gansey and U’Ren would make it an even bigger disappointment if they hire someone like Olshey or another retread candidate. This franchise needs fresh blood and fresh eyes to lead it into the future.
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