Sixers reportedly narrow front-office search to four primary candidates, including Jameer Nelson

The 76ers have four primary candidates — Jameer Nelson, Matt Lloyd, Nick U’Ren, and Mike Gansey — in their search for a new day-to-day lead front office executive, according to a report from The Stein Line.

Bob Myers, the president of sports for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and former president of basketball operations during the Golden State Warriors dynasty, is leading the search after Daryl Morey was fired on May 12.

Nelson, the Sixers’ assistant general manager and former St. Joseph’s star, has risen up the front office ranks following his successful NBA playing career. He previously was the general manager of the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats before being promoted to his current position with the Sixers last year.

It has been Nelson’s goal to ascend to a team’s lead front office position, telling The Inquirer in 2024, “I know, at some point, I’m going to be” in such a role.

“I always had to walk into the door, observe, and find out where I can lead and help,” Nelson added during that conversation. “I’m not a guy that’s going to come in and pound my chest. I’m not the loud speaker. But if there’s something I need to say, I’ll say it. I’ll get it off my chest in the right way.”

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The Stein Line also reported that, even if the Sixers make an outside hire, Nelson would still be in contention for a promotion within the organization. That raises questions about where to fit in Elton Brand, who previously held the top front-office title and then worked as general manager under Morey. When asked during a May 14 news conference about Brand’s candidacy for the upcoming hire, Myers was noncommittal.

“I’m going to talk to Elton, get his thoughts on things,” Myers said. “Figure out what we think is best. But we haven’t gotten to that level of detail with any of that yet.”

Lloyd is the Minnesota Timberwolves general manager under Tim Connelly, and was once considered the frontrunner to be hired as the Chicago Bulls’ vice president of basketball operations before that organization went with Bryson Graham.

Lloyd has been part of a Minnesota front office that executed the blockbuster trades to send out Karl-Anthony Towns and bring in Rudy Gobert in recent seasons. The Timberwolves built a roster around superstar Anthony Edwards that advanced to two consecutive Western Conference finals, in 2024 and 2025, and lost in this year’s second round to the San Antonio Spurs. Lloyd is viewed as an excellent communicator, both within an organization and with worldwide basketball connections.

Before his time in Minnesota, Lloyd spent 10 seasons with the Orlando Magic, where he oversaw scouting and held titles of vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager. During that period, he overlapped with Nelson, then a player, and fellow Sixers assistant general manager Prosper Karangwa, who was a scout and director of scouting with the organization before joining the Sixers’ front office in 2020.

Lloyd also was with the Bulls for 13 seasons in a variety of roles inside and outside of basketball operations, including in scouting, special projects, and media coordination. He once told the Dane Moore NBA podcast that, in those early days, he built a scouting database that is now used as a prototype across the league.

U’Ren spent nine seasons in various roles with the Warriors’ coaching staff and front office — where he worked under Myers — before becoming general manager of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.

Last year, he constructed a revamped Mercury roster that made a surprise run to the WNBA Finals. U’Ren’s NBA experience ranges from video coordinating, to scouting, to player evaluation.

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Gansey has been the Cleveland Cavaliers’ general manager under Kolby Altman since 2022, and before that was the assistant general manager and general manager of the G League’s Cleveland Charge.

He has been part of the front office that executed trades for stars Donovan Mitchell and, earlier this season, James Harden. The Cavaliers advanced to the Eastern Conference finals before being swept by the Knicks.

The new hire will take over a Sixers team that went 45-37 during the regular-season and pulled off a dramatic Game 7 playoff upset of the Boston Celtics, before being swept by the NBA Finals-bound New York Knicks in the second round.

They also will face a challenging roster-building situation. The Sixers boast an exciting young backcourt in Tyrese Maxey, a recently minted All-NBA performer, and VJ Edgecombe, who finished third in Rookie of the Year voting. But Joel Embiid and Paul George, who are aging and have struggled with numerous health issues in recent seasons, both have multiple years remaining on max contracts and are considered difficult to trade.