The Most Pressing Questions Mike Gansey Must Face As He Settles into Philadelphia

Having reportedly been hired as president of basketball operations six days ago, Mike Gansey ostensibly will be introduced at the Sixers' facilities some time soon. One would think.

When that time comes, he'll be forced to sell Philadelphians on his appointment to the Sixers' throne. Convincing the locals is the least of his worries, though. His task is to take this franchise from four playoff wins to 16. His work is cut out for him.

Having said that, there will be questions he must answer immediately. With his words and with his actions.

Here are the most pressing ones.

How do Joel Embiid and Paul George fit Gansey's vision?

Bob Myers wisely noted during his press conference as interim president of basketball operations that the most unbiased voices come from outside the house.

Gansey will step into his new job with an outsider's perspective on Joel Embiid and Paul George. He was not in the building for Embiid's MVP season. It means nothing to him that Embiid kept this franchise afloat when it was prepared to sink more times than one. He will walk in with no bias, no commitment, no emotional investment in the longest tenured Sixer.

And he'll encounter a vocal faction of locals who would love to see perhaps the most talented Sixer ever depart.

The same can be said for George. Gansey did not stake his job on giving George a max contract with no other bidders applying pressure. Heck, he's here because Josh Harris and company lost belief in the three-headed vision architected by Daryl Morey.

So where do Embiid and George fit?

Does Nick Nurse fit the style Gansey wants to play?

This isn't the first time a newly-appointed Sixers president arrived with a head coach installed. Even though it was believed that Daryl Morey would've entertained Doc Rivers as a candidate for the open Rockets job had he stayed in Houston, you could feasibly argue three years of this era were wasted because the architect didn't start with a blank slate.

Now, Gansey will have Nick Nurse at the helm for at least the first year of his reign. Will he fully endorse a colleague who remains from the previous regime, or will he decline to silence chatter that the head coach is a lame duck?

How does Gansey make this team better?

A prelude to this question is, what is Gansey looking to accomplish in 2026-27?

Even if Gansey, under the power of truth serum, would admit that he wants to move Embiid, it's going to be a difficult task without including draft capital. That is less true of George, and maybe even lesser so in February of 2027, when the trade deadline approaches.

Still, even if Gansey wants to remodel, it will be no small task to convince Rich Paul and Tyrese Maxey to undergo a rebuild in the star guard's mid-20s. And frankly, that shouldn't be necessary. There is solid foundation for the present and future with Maxey and V.J. Edgecombe.

So let's assume the plan is to continue full steam ahead. The Sixers will have to choose between the taxpayer mid-level exception and being hardcapped at the second apron or the non-taxpayer mid-level and bi-annual exceptions and being hardcapped at the first apron.

Adjacently, Gansey will have to decide if he wants to pursue renewed vows for any of Quentin Grimes, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Andre Drummond.

He will have some tools to use, so how will he make this team better?

Why does Gansey think he got the job?

This should indicate how aligned he and Myers are in their practices and beliefs.

Did Myers essentially hire a younger version of himself? Did he hire someone who will challenge his thoughts? What did he seek in his evaluation of candidates?

How much autonomy does Gansey expect to have?

This will say something about the new organizational structure.

Will there be too many cooks in Philadelphia's kitchen? Will there be some convoluted decision-making structure that makes it difficult to discern who is responsible for which successes and which failures?

Or will Gansey have the freedom to mold this thing to his unique vision?

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