Mike Gansey is the guy for Bob Myers and the Sixers on paper. But what exactly will that mean in practice?
The tough part about evaluating the Gansey hire is we don’t know exactly what he is being hired to do. While he and Daryl Morey share titles, there will be key differences in access and autonomy.
The first thing everyone should know about Mike Gansey is that he was a hell of a college basketball player. The second-leading scorer on those John Beilein-coached, Kevin Pittsnogle-led West Virginia teams of the early aughts, Gansey dropped 18 points in the Mountaineers’ Sweet 16 loss to LaMarcus Aldridge and Texas on a buzzer-beater three in 2006. One of the classic NCAA tournament games of the last 30 years. Look it up on YouTube, kids.
» READ MORE: The Sixers are set to hire Mike Gansey as their new lead front office executive
As for Gansey’s track record as an executive, well, he doesn’t really have one. At least, not one that compares to the guy he’ll be replacing as the Sixers’ president of basketball operation. Nor one that compares to the guy who hired him. Daryl Morey and Bob Myers both spent more than a decade building championship contenders as unquestioned personnel bosses. They remain among the more familiar names in an age of front office hero worship. Same goes for Gansey’s former boss in Cleveland, where Koby Altman has spent a decade guiding the Cavaliers through their second post-LeBron Era. Does Gansey have the wherewithal to follow in their footsteps? If he does, will he get a chance to show it?
The tough part about evaluating the Gansey hire is that we don’t know exactly what he is being hired for. The Sixers gave him the same title as Morey. But Morey was hired without any link in the chain of command between him and the ownership suite. He reported to Josh Harris and David Blitzer, both businessmen. Morey’s recommendations on major moves and strategic visions was the first and final word from the basketball end of things. That changed when Myers arrived as President of Sports at HBSE, the parent company co-owned by Harris and Blitzer. It did not end well for Morey.
Gansey is Myers’ guy, obviously. But what, exactly, does that mean? The Sixers could sell it in a way that sounds perfectly reasonable on paper. Myers is essentially filling the role that Harris and Blitzer would have previously. He is ownership. The duo has a lot of other fish to fry, especially now with the NFL’s Commanders in their portfolio. Sounds great in theory. Until you remind yourself of Myers’ resume. This isn’t some bean-counting suit who cut his teeth at McKinsey. He is a basketball guy, one who has already acknowledged that he will be present for all of the major plot points upon which hinge a chief personnel man’s reputation. The draft, free agency, trade deadline — if Myers is there and involved in the decision-making process, then whose decision is it when there isn’t unanimity of opinion?
Take James Harden, for instance. All roads always lead there, don’t they? The Sixers have somehow managed to replace a guy who traded for a past-his-prime Harden with a guy who just traded for him three months ago. Did Gansey really trade for him, though? Altman was the guy in charge. Did Gansey agree with the move? Would he dare do the funniest thing in the world and trade for Harden again? If he would, and Myers wouldn’t, or vice versa, which way would the wind end up blowing?
David Murphy alerts
We’ll have to wait for the introductory press conference to get a better read on the hierarchical dynamics. The collective message preached is the thing that will matter most. A couple of weeks ago, in a press conference following Morey’s firing, Myers gave a potentially telling response to a question about the level of autonomy Morey’s replacement would have.
“If I do a good job, a tremendous amount of autonomy,” Myers said.
One way to interpret that is Myers viewed his job as hiring someone who agreed with his vision for the roster, and who would operate in lockstep with him, and thus who would have all the autonomy in the world as long as it did not result in decisions that Myers disagreed with.
To be clear, such a setup is not necessarily a bad thing. Myers and Gansey are both bright basketball minds with a vast depth and breadth of experience, some of which is directly applicable to the Sixers’ current straits. The important thing will be whatever vision they share.
