76ers Should Consider Raptors' Adrian Griffin for Head Coach

The Philadelphia 76ers are in a position they haven't been in since 2013. Back then, Philly was searching for a head coach that could come in and steer the ship during a problematic 'process.' Former San Antonio Spurs assistant Brett Brown won the job ultimately because of his history with player development.

Philly remained loyal to Brown for seven seasons, offering him an opportunity to run a team while it was finally ready to compete. Unfortunately, Brown wasn't able to get them over the second-round hump in the playoffs. And during his third-straight playoff appearance in 2020, Brown failed to get the Sixers to the second round.

That resulted in the Sixers ending a seven-year stint with Brown as the head coach. Now, the organization will spend the 2020 offseason looking to make significant tweaks beginning with the head coach. Right off the bat, several candidates were linked to the job, including Ty Lue, Jay Wright, Dave Joerger, and Mike Brown.

With Wright withdrawing from candidacy, along with Joerger and Brown generating little buzz, the Sixers seem to be relatively high on Lue. However, Sixers General Manager Elton Brand made it clear the team isn't in any rush to find Brown's replacement just yet as there are tons of candidates to consider.

One candidate, the Sixers could and should look into is Toronto Raptors' assistant, Adrian Griffin. The 76ers are no strangers to Griffin. Since the 2018 season, Griffin has served as an assistant under Raptors' head coach, Nick Nurse. And down in the Orlando bubble, Griffin served as a head coach of the Raptors in a matchup against the Sixers where Toronto defeated Philly 125-121.

In addition to competing against Griffin's teams in the past, the Sixers have also considered him the past as they searched for a head coach in 2013. According to Michael Kaskey-Blomain of CBS Sports, the Sixers were impressed with Griffin and invited him back for a second interview. Ultimately, he lost the job to Brett Brown.

Right now, it's unclear if the Sixers want to go the route of hiring an assistant rather than somebody with head coaching experience. If Philly needs a history of somebody with a past of winning as a head coach, then Ty Lue is their guy.

If Philly wants to take a more significant gamble, though, and swoop up a top assistant, then Griffin should be a leading candidate for the job as he's been exposed to winning a championship recently and has helped coach the Raptors, who have had lots of success against the Sixers in recent times.

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