Sixers managing partner Josh Harris has publicly stated his desire to maintain the team's "consensus-oriented culture" as they search for a new general manager.
Reportedly, one of the bigger names floated around as a possibility for the GM job didn't align with the team's priorities.
According to The Inquirer's Keith Pompey, former Cavs GM David Griffin interviewed with the Sixers this summer, but the team "felt he wasn't a good fit for their front-office structure." Pompey notes the team wants a collaborative front office as opposed to a GM with the final say.
Griffin served as GM of the Cavs from May 2014 to June 2017, bringing back LeBron James, acquiring Kevin Love for Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett, and winning a title with the franchise in 2016.
After Bryan Colangelo's resignation, Griffin seemed like a strong possible replacement who could help the Sixers land James in free agency.
However, the Sixers seem determined to find a candidate who works well with their current setup. The team recently promoted assistant GM Ned Cohen, vice president of player personnel Marc Eversley, vice president of basketball operations Elton Brandon and senior vice president of analytics and strategy Alex Rucker. The Sixers will reportedly interview those four names next week (see story).
"It's very consensus-oriented, there's a lot of people in the dialogue, and we want to make sure we find the right fit for that," Harris told NBC Sports Philadelphia's Amy Fadool in July. "It's not going to be easy. My guess is it's going to take awhile. And we're obviously focused on doing it as quickly as possible, but at the same time I don't want to set unrealistic expectations - it could take a little while."
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Based on this report about Griffin, the three external candidates who the Sixers are reportedly interviewing this week, Gersson Rosas, Justin Zanik and Larry Harris, may need to show their willingness to embrace a collaborative front-office system if they hope to land the job.
Rosas and Harris both have prior GM experience, although Rosas only served for three months as the Mavericks' GM in 2013 before resigning.
