Mike Gansey plans to build around Sixers’ current core while growing the team’s culture: ‘I want fountains, not drains’
In his first press conference since taking the Sixers’ top job, new president of basketball operations Mike Gansey didn’t sound like he planned on undertaking a major roster overhaul.
The Sixers need to establish an identity, Bob Myers said Monday.
That’s the central task ahead of new president of basketball operations Mike Gansey, who will look to bring the Sixers past the second-round hump and build them into a true championship contender.
When asked if the franchise was committed to Joel Embiid in the long-term, Gansey said that he considers Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, and Paul George the four tentpoles of the roster in the short-term.
“We have those four and we’ve got to maximize those four,” “Obviously [Edgecombe] and [Maxey] are younger, but [George] and [Embiid] can still play at a high level. We were 24-14 when Joel played, and obviously in the playoffs, coming back from Boston. We’ve got to rely on those four, and obviously keep them on the floor, and then just build around them.”
The Sixers were not elite offensively or defensively last season — they ranked in the middle of the league in both offensive (17th) and defensive (16th) rating — and the new leadership group wants to change that.
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But getting their stars on the floor at the same time is easier said than done. Myers cosigned that to establish a team identity, the Sixers need to have their top four guys, namely Embiid and George, who both missed significant chunks of the last two seasons, all on the floor together.
“In order to see what we are, we’ve got to be on the floor, right?” said Myers, president of sports for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and the head of the search that led to the Sixers hiring Gansey. “You have to have a consistent product on the floor, and maybe that’s not good enough, or maybe it is, but we’ve got to figure out what are we, what can we stand on as a team.”
Myers referenced Embiid’s comments that the season was “successful” because he felt like he’d worked past the knee issues that hampered him for several years. Embiid has no scheduled surgeries this summer and the Sixers hope he can use the offseason to build instead of recover.
But Embiid has missed more games than he’s played in his NBA career, partially due to just exceptionally bad injury luck, like last season’s appendectomy, or an orbital fracture or a bout with Bell’s palsy. Embiid has never played 70 games in a season, and hasn’t played more than half the games in a year since his MVP campaign in 2022-23.
“He’s too important, and we are a top heavy team, right?” Myers said. “That’s just what it is. Look at the contracts. We need those guys to play, and you need depth underneath it. The league has changed, so we need both, but to experience what this team is, we need a healthy roster in training camp.”
The other aspect of building a team identity is through the internal culture of the organization. Gansey said explicitly that the Sixers roster is not championship caliber as it stands, but “we’re going to do everything we can to bring in players that fit” in order to build that roster.
“I want guys that want to be in Philly, first and foremost,” Gansey said of his roster construction philosophy. “... I want fountains, not drains. I want guys with high character, guys with high work ethics, and guys that want to be in Philadelphia.”
Gansey also said it was “a sticking point” for him to keep Jameer Nelson on and promote him to executive vice president of basketball operations. As a Chester native and former St. Joe’s star, Nelson knows the culture of basketball in the city in a way no one else in the organization does.
With the draft at the end of the month, Gansey’s first big task will be to add another piece that can hopefully make an impact for the Sixers next year. Gansey did not delve too deeply into his draft philosophy, but said that at No. 22 he would consider both best fit and best player available.
But it’s not just about getting the pick right. It’s also about what the Sixers do from there. The team has come under scrutiny recently for its struggles in keeping and developing players. This year’s NBA conference finals featured several ex-Sixers, including former draft picks Jared McCain, Landry Shamet, Isaiah Joe, and even Mikal Bridges, though he never suited up for Philly.
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Now in Philly, Gansey hopes to fix that — starting with some of the players already on the roster.
“The big part is just internal development, with Tyrese, VJ, and some of our other young guys, like they’ve got to get better too,” Gansey said.
