So Doug Collins is Gone. What Now for the Sixers?

There's an awful lot to say about Doug Collins leaving the Sixers. My favorite is that Marreese Speights made him quit. We'll get more quotes in the next day or two, but ultimately, this season wore on Doug Collins too much and he didn't want to coach the team anymore. I cannot blame him for that. Also, I'm thrilled we don't have to watch any Doug Collins offenses anymore.

But with Collins toast, what's this mean for the rest of the organization? Let's start from the top.

Tony DiLeo

I'm operating under the assumption that Doug Collins will be gone. Like entirely gone. Not throwing wrenches all over the place in a Rod Thorn-esque advisory position (please no). So that makes Tony DiLeo THE GUY now. Which I find sort of comforting. I think he's smarter than people give him credit for. I, for whatever reason, give him the lion's share of credit for the Andrew Bynum trade (which I will defend until my untimely death) and find him to be more of a numbers guy than Thorn or Collins.

Let's see what he does. I don't think ownership will can him. I suppose they might, but I don't see it happening. It's all about patience. If the Sixers owners give DiLeo the rope to not make any short-sighted WIN NOW decisions, I think he'll do okay. I believe in him. I don't know why, but I do.

Andrew Bynum

I have no idea. I think this means they'll be more likely to offer him a contract. But I could be wrong. Maybe they just want to start completely over. That wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. I don't know what I want to happen with Bynum yet.

Basically Collins quitting has a huge effect on the Bynum situation, I'm just not completely sure which way that swings the pendulum.

Evan Turner

Man, what a weird relationship these guys had, right? Turner was just quoted as saying "Sometimes you have to remember that it’s just a game and he has to live his life. It’s not like he’s leaving and going to jail." Collins didn't want to draft Evan. Then it looked like they hated each other, but then all the Andre Iguodala stuff came out and it looked like Doug and Evan were cool. But there's no question both guys frustrated the hell out of each other.

What happens with Evan? My gut says he's gone if they can find somebody who wants him this offseason. We'll have so much more summer content on ET, but he just never seems to put it together within an offense. Could it have been Doug's offense? Sure, that played a role. But it's ultimately on him. And he hasn't been good enough.

Spencer Hawes

This .gif from last year's playoffs is what I'll always think about when Doug and Spencer come to mind. Hawes will have his 12-game stretch each year where he looks like Wight Howard, but at the end of the day he's a soft jumpshooting big (who isn't very good at shooting) that can't play defense very well.

Maybe my own personal biases are figuring into this (go figure!), but I think he's gone too. This was Doug's team. He kept the guys he wanted and let the other ones go. It's sort of weird to think of Lou Williams and Elton Brand as Not His Guys, but I think there's a difference between Public Doug and Private Doug when it comes to his team-building philosophies. The way I see it, ownership came to Doug and Rod and said "You can bring in the guys you want to bring in, but we're keeping them on 1 or 2-year deals." I don't know. Anyway, Hawes is out.

Kwame Brown

LOL.

Thaddeus Young

I get the impression that DiLeo is a huge Thad fan. When DiLeo coached half the season in 08-09, Thad played a huge role in the offense as a second-year guy. I expect we'll be seeing plenty of Thad. Maybe shooting threes? Suppose it depends on who they bring in to coach. I don't hate the idea of keeping Thad around.

Damien Wilkins

Were they ever really considering a contract for Damien? Or was that just our worries turning into a real thing? Either way, I think No Doug means No Damien. Probably.... probably.

Andres Nocioni

Probably in line for next year's starting small forward spot.

The Draft

We'll see. I've trusted DiLeo's drafting ability in the past and I'll continue to do it. This is a conversation for a different day, but I'd like to see some more movement. It's about getting assets, and I want the Sixers to come away from the draft with as many flexible assets as they can.

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We'll have a Head Coach search to look forward to this offseason. Everybody hates retreads. I'd prefer they give an assistant a shot. I don't have any names because I don't care to think about it yet. I'd prefer they brought the coach in after the draft. I don't know how realistic that is, but I'd like to first build the team with the front office. The coach should coach. When Doug did the other stuff, things turned sour.

I am very much looking forward to a team that maybe runs an exciting offense for the first time ever. But first, it's about team-building. We have another weird offseason to look forward to.

Sixers Be Crazy, guys.