Report: Changes Are Coming to the Sixers Scouting Department

Howard Eskin blindsided 76ers twitter with a very big news item:

.NBA source. @sixers GM Sam Hinkie fired Courtney Witte, Dir Player Personel and all scouts. Hinkie has no heart. Now its hard to find jobs

— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) August 31, 2014

@mediamike77 @NBA @Sixers sam hinkie @Sixers wants all his own ppl but could have done after draft. Courtney Witte may be going 2 @clippers

— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) August 31, 2014

Liberty Ballers has not confirmed Eskin's report, which came late Saturday night. Courtney Witte is a long-time member of the Sixers organization who as director of player personnel headed up both the pro and amateur scouting operations for the Sixers.

Witte was not hired by general manager Sam Hinkie, and along with most of the scouting department was a holdover from the previous regime. Why a move like this was made now is a bit of a mystery - why not put your people in place before what at one point looked like the most important draft in team history?

Jason Wolf of USA Today is reporting that the wholesale changes noted by Eskin are "not true" but implies that changes are coming:

#Sixers source on Eskin report: "Not true. Not ready to announce anything tonight. But nothing ridiculous like that." pic.twitter.com/27zIkKWDGm

— Jason Wolf (@JasonChadWolf) August 31, 2014

We'll have more on this as the story develops.