Unsurprisingly, Doc Rivers will not be out of job for too long. The former Los Angeles Clippers head coach is heading back to the Eastern Conference to take charge of the Philadelphia 76ers, whose coach, Brett Brown, was booted out shortly after the team's exit from the bubble games in Orlando.
Rivers himself lost his job when the Clippers failed to get past the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs but is now given a fresh chance to work his way to a second NBA title in a coaching career that now spans over 20 years.
The hiring did not come as a surprise. NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski said the talks between Rivers and the Sixers went smoothly and the parties quickly arrived at an agreement.
"After a rapid courtship and negotiation, Doc Rivers has reached agreement on a deal to become the next coach of the Philadelphia 76ers," Fadeaway World reported Wojnarowski as saying.
Rivers will inherit a Sixers squad that seemed capable of winning the championship with stars like Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Tobias Harris. But Philadelphia again disappointed this season that analysts blamed on the team's lack of chemistry and consistency.
It deemed that Brown failed on the mission to build a team with a clear purpose of winning. With Rivers now calling the shots, he is expected to provide the compass for the team to follow.
Rivers will have the room to maneuver on reconfiguring the Sixers that he will deploy next season. According to Shams Charania, Rivers' deal with Philadelphia will give him five years of tenure, which should be enough to win the title the team has been chasing for decades now.
The agreement will see the new head coach focusing on the team development and coaching duties alone, deviating from Rivers' role with the Clippers, in which he was also involved in management concerns during his seven years of stay in Los Angeles.
But the most exciting prospect of the new coach whipping up things in Philadelphia is how the duo of Embiid and Simmons will fare under Rivers' watch. Clutch Points said Embiid will most likely benefit from the improvements that Rivers will bring in.
Rivers' coaching style is seen to better optimize how the big man operates on the floor. It remains to be seen, however, if the new man in charge will continue with the pairing of Embiid and Simmons or if he will break up the tandem, as suggested by several NBA analysts.
Rivers' new job will bring him back to the east side of the competition where he spent nine years with the Boston Celtics. He scored a title win during that stretch and it is hoped he will do much better steering the Sixers over the next few years.
