Report: Sixers and VP of Strategy Sergi Oliva have parted ways

Nothing too major has happened yet, but the Philadelphia 76ers are starting to make some front office changes. Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer has reported that Sergi Oliva, the Sixers’ Vice President of Strategy, has left the team.

Oliva joined the Sixers as a Basketball Operations Analyst in 2014, and spent two years in the role before moving into analytics and strategy, eventually becoming the Senior Director of Analytics and Strategy in 2018. He was promoted to VP of Strategy last year. Along with Executive VP of Basketball Operations Alex Rucker and Assistant GM Ned Cohen, Oliva played a role in the team’s decision-making under GM Elton Brand.

This news follows a minor update that Phil Jabour, the Sixers’ Director of Scouting, has been hired by the Kings as their new VP of Player Personnel.

The Sixers needed to make front office changes this offseason. And while we will have to wait and see, more moves could be on the way. The team is interviewing candidates to work as an executive under Elton Brand, so ideally they’ll be bringing in someone to help steer the team’s basketball operations department in the right direction.

The news that Daryl Morey has stepped down as GM of the Houston Rockets immediately caught the excitement of Sixers Twitter today. It’s uncertain whether he’d even be interested in joining the Sixers and he’s considering taking a break from the NBA, but he’s still someone the Sixers have been interested in recently. Pompey reported in September that the team would try to inquire about Morey’s availability and interest in taking on the role of President of Basketball Operations in Philly. Now that he’s available, perhaps the Sixers would consider making more significant changes to their front office to give Morey the control to lead basketball decisions and make some hires of his own, if that’s what it would take to bring him onboard. At least, that would be the smart thing to do.

Meanwhile, the Sixers are making some solid moves to strengthen their coaching staff. They’ve made their first hire for the staff of new head coach Doc Rivers, as former Grizzlies and Kings head coach Dave Joerger has now agreed to a deal to join the team as an assistant coach.