Sixers coach Brett Brown seemingly loved Brandon Davies' attitude and work ethic, so when the second-year forward was traded to the Brooklyn Nets this week in the Andrei Kirilenko deal it felt like a personal loss. That's understandable, but Brown took it a step further when discussing Philadelphia's trade that gave the team, essentially, a second-round pick for taking on Kirilenko's contract.
76ers coach bothered by team’s decision to trade Brandon Davies
The Philadelphia 76ers coach expressed his frustration in trying to develop a culture.
Brown told CSN Philly’s Dei Lynam that it’s been difficult to work with so much roster turnover.
“When you start losing people that you are very fond of and have tremendous respect for ... there is a human side of it that bothers me because you are trying to grow chemistry, you are trying to grow a culture,” Brown said after Thursday’s practice.
Those are strong words for the coach of the 2-19 team.
Losing a role player and fringe NBA prospect who averaged 6.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game hit Brown hard because it hurt continuity.
Of course, the Sixers believe there is a method to their madness. Disregarding the discussion of whether their tanking is ethical or good for the NBA, Philadelphia is clearly trying to accumulate young assets. It’s not unlike other rebuilding teams in the league. Those squads -- say in Milwaukee, Orlando and Utah -- have a group of young players developing together over several seasons.
Brown doesn’t have the luxury of watching a core group of players grow with one another, and that’s probably where his biggest frustrations lie.
"There are a lot of moving parts, and there is going to continue to be because it is the nature of our job," Brown said. "Stability is not a word that comes to mind very often with where we are at with the Philadelphia 76ers.
"It is a tremendous challenge to keep the locker room together if they lose a teammate or friend. It is a tremendous challenge to have a semblance of order or purpose on offense or with rules on defense. It is just such a volatile situation at times."
And this should be at the heart of the debate over whether the 76ers can succeed with this unique rebuilding plan.
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