Ty Lue Linked to 76ers as Brett Brown's Future is in Question

Heading into the 2019-2020 NBA Season, Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown figured he'd be under a microscope. As his job was reportedly on the line during last year's playoff run, Brown somehow made it out of the 2018-2019 season remaining in charge of the Sixers despite being defeated in the second round of the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Although Philly confidently stated Brown's job was never in jeopardy last season -- it was quite apparent that he was going to be on the hot seat all year long. Before the playoffs, the Sixers finished with their most disappointing season since they've started becoming regular playoff contenders.

Coming into the first round of the playoffs, the sixth-seeded 76ers were facing the third-seeded Celtics. Although Philly managed to defeat Boston three out of four times during the regular season, none of that mattered in the postseason when it counts the most. In four games, the Sixers were swept. Now, Brown's future is totally in question as there's an excellent chance his days of running the Sixers are ending.

With that said, there's already a handful of candidates on the Sixers' radar potentially. Some obvious ones being thrown out there are Villanova's Jay Wright and Brett Brown's assistant Ime Udoka. While those two names will remain popular, no other coach has been linked to the Sixers more than Clippers assistant, Ty Lue.

The former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach has been out of the spotlight since he departed from the Cavs' organization back in 2018. After spending a single season as an assistant in Los Angeles, Lue is garnering some attention as head coaching positions open up. And recent rumblings suggest he's a strong candidate for Philly's soon-to-be head coaching vacancy.

Bleacher Report's Yaron Weitzman suggested the Sixers will likely consider Ty Lue and Jason Kidd. That matches up with a report from last week when ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski indicated that Lue could be a good fit in coaching Philly's established stars in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.

It's not just assumptions that suggest Lue and the Sixers could partner up, though. The Athletic's Shams Charania reported that Lue had been linked to Philly behind the scenes. Sports Illustrated's own Chris Mannix confirmed that much on Monday morning as he's heard there's "mutual interest" between Lue and Philly. 

There's still a lot to unfold as Brown remains as the head coach of the 76ers at this very moment -- but soon enough, it sounds like the Sixers are going to be on a head coaching hunt, and Lue sounds like the early favorite right about now. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_