UPDATE: Sixers Sent Iguodala to Denver, Then Tried to Hire Nuggets GM, Promote Tony DiLeo
UPDATE: And no sooner than I’m done writing this the Sixers promote Tony DiLeo to general manager, according to several reports.
CSN reports that DiLeo won’t take over until season’s end: [CSN Philly]
DiLeo will work under current GM and team president Rod Thorn this season and take over for the departing Thorn at year's end.
The Sixers search seems to have taken longer than most anticipated. They were apparently turned down by Ujiri and others:
So, DiLeo it is.
…
I love this.
Years ago, the Sixers shipped Allen Iverson and his baggage (literal and figurative) to Denver.
This summer, they stole Andrew Bynum in a blockbuster trade by sending another AI, Andre Iguodala, to Nuggets… and then tried to steal their GM.
According to reports, the Sixers sought permission to speak with Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri (an Irish fellow, for sure) after getting him to take Iguodala, but Ujiri decided to stay put: [CBS Sports]
It was after the Howard trade, in which the Sixers received Andrew Bynum from the Lakers, that Philadelphia asked permission to interview Ujiri, the sources said. But the Denver executive's confidence in the organization and the Kroenke family, led by acting owner Josh, led him to stay.
With one year left on his contract, the Nuggets will have to step up with an extension offer. Preliminary conversations already have occurred, but some of Ujiri's peers are skeptical that the Nuggets will be willing to step up and pay anything close to what the Sixers would've offered.
The Sixers job ultimately would've involved replacing Thorn as the top basketball decision-maker in the organization and would've likely paid Ujiri close to $2 million a year — more than doubling his current salary.
The Sixers were apparently impressed not only with Ujiri's track record in Denver, but also with him orchestrating the biggest trade of the summer: [Yahoo!]
Ujiri has played an immense role in stabilizing Denver's front office and reshaping the Nuggets' roster in the wake of the Carmelo Anthony trade. Philadelphia recruited Ujiri and the Nuggets to facilitate the four-way deal with the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic that brought the Nuggets All-Star forward Andre Iguodala as part of the Dwight Howard-Andrew Bynum blockbuster trade.
Ujiri would have replaced Rod Thorn, who is currently in the lamest of lame duck sessions (though he appears to be going out with a bang… er, quack?).
