76ers promote Tony DiLeo to general manager
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76ers promote Tony DiLeo to general manager
John Mitchell, Inquirer Staff Writer
The 76ers have decided to promote Tony DiLeo to general manager, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
The Inquirer reported last week that the Sixers, who had interviewed multiple candidates from outside the organization, were seriously considering promoting DiLeo to the position. An official announcement could come from the team as early as this afternoon.
DiLeo was a finalist earlier this summer for the Portland general manager's job, which went to former Los Angeles Clippers general manager Neil Olshey.
DiLeo has been a part of the Sixers basketball operations department since the 1990-91 season. Most recently, before assuming his current position with the club, DiLeo took over for fired coach Maurice Cheeks after the Sixers began the 2008-09 season 9-14.
Thorn is in the last year of his contract with the team. It is believed that Thorn will serve the final year on his deal with the team and then move into a consulting position for the team. At that time, DiLeo will move into Thorn‘s spot and assume the position’s full responsibilities.
According to team sources, Sixers majority owner Joshua Harris became very impressed with the way DiLeo handled himself alongside Thorn as the Sixers reshaped their roster this summer. Before the team showed any interest in promoting DiLeo, the Sixers interviewed three other candidates. The group included Boston assistant general manager Mike Zarren, who withdrew his candidacy, ESPN analyst and ex-Portland Trail Blazers assistant general manager Tom Penn, and former New Orleans general manager Jeff Bower.
Comments (24)
if he's as good a GM as he was a coach, this franchise was just set back another 10-15 years— jodya2- Congratulations to Tony and the 76ers. DiLeo is an astute, hard working, basketball lifer, and he is a local guy from a great basketball family in Cinnaminson, NJ. Portland's loss is our gain...— topwonk
- WEAK CHOICE, don`t like looking at him.
never forget that last game he coached— Pearchair - @jodya2: do you actually watch the Sixers or are just one of the usual negative fans who act like you do? wait, don't answer that. i already know the answer...the Sixers actually played well under DiLeo AND made the playoffs that year. get your mind right— kevwalton
- they played well because cheeks left
that was just a mannequin on the bench— Pearchair - TONY DILEO I CAN NOT BELIEVE HE STILL A SIXER AFTER THAT HORRIFIC JOB HE DID REPLACING MO CHEEKS GIVE ME A BREAK... OF ALL THE GOOD THINGS THEY THIS SUMMER THEY ARE GOING TO RUIN IT WITH THIS CHOICE AT A VERY IMPORTANT POSITION!!! SHADES OF ED STAFANSKI AND BILLY KING HAVE RESURFACES!! PLEASE JOSH WHAT EVER YOU DO DONT GIVE HIM THAT JOB TOWEL BOY WATER BOY OR BALL BOY ARE MORE ON THE LEVEL OF EMPLOYEMENT HE SHOULD BE OFFERED!!!!!— DJ_Bootleggah
- He is just a gm in name only. He still handles the video, in fact i think it was him who taped romney at that party— Pearchair
- kev, so making the playoffs as a .500 team is considered playing "well"? getting run out of the building in a do-or-die game 6? getting called out by a 14-year vet (ratliff) that has played all over the league for not coaching your guys hard enough (http://articles.philly.com/2009-05-01/sports/24984961_1_sixers-veteran-presence-guys)? did you forget that? wait, don't answer that question. i already know your answer. whatever the hell that means.— jodya2
- lets not jump off the deep end. this is dc's show here regardless of who they hired. that's why danny ferry isn't here.— 76ers in 2076
- Congratulations to Doug Collins; you are now fully in charge. Make the most of it, but stay away from those parties in the Hamptons and in Boca Raton.— chuckw
- the 76ers have no shot of winning a championship for at least 10 years. might as well hire Jim Lynam to caoch now. It's a mediocre product. FAIL.— Tyrone Biggums
- It's time to update the Deep Sixer banner. Iggy in the old uni - just makes me sad that those days are over.— damageboy
- Hi!
I think it's one thing being a coach and another is being a GM. Di Leo was not too bad as a coach, but who the hell knows how he'll work as a GM??— b-age76 - Tony is a 'SIXER' for LIFE and a GREAT CHOICE !!! johnnyu— john ullman
- A lifer that has set this franchise back years look at the body of work I can't believe this the worst hire I have ever seen in any sport I'm done!— Sam 52
- I agree that Tony Dileo was a pretty damn good coach for no previous NBA coaching experience. In the end it was the players that gave up. Especially Iguodala (who I was mad at and felt should have been traded after that playoff series with Orlando but glad he wasn't cause he got us Bynum and gave the young sixers time to grow while he carried the team post-AI.) I like Dileo he proved to be a decent judge of players (who knows who he would pick if Billy King or Stefanski didn't have the final say) and if the 76ers think that he is worthy I am in agreement. It's not like their recent moves have been bad. Remember everyone saying "trade Iguodala for a bag of chips."? They traded him for Bynum and Richardson. They went from Jodie Meeks to Dorell Wright & Nick Young. Drafted a potential starting PF (in a few seasons) in Arnett Moultrie. Found an absolute steal in Lavoy Allen who ESPN had rated #500 last season but who stepped up against the likes of Noah, Asik, Gibson, KG & Bass in hotly contest playoff games. Yeah I trust in the 76ers decisions these days. I'd pick Dileo anyway as he knows this team, this city and won't come in and mess things up. He'll work with Doug Collins who isn't exactly easy to work with. Hopefully he learned much more under Rod Thorn than Stefanski and Billy King (but maybe he learned from the latter two what NOT to do). Congrats Tony Dileo!— joecooler2u
- Ok, that's it. I guess it's revisionist history time here again. Fact: Cheeks was fired because Steffanski wanted to clean house. He couldn't the year before because under Cheeks, the Sixers played really well after a poor start and made the playoffs. In fact, Steffanski had to give Cheeks a year extension right after. Fact: when Cheeks was fired, the Sixers were 9-14. The next 5 games were against the Wizards (dreck), Bucks (dreckier), and the Raptors (dreckiest). I or anyone else posting on Philly.com could have coached the team to a 5-0 record for those 5 games. Stiffanski (never have I hated a sports figure as much as him) picked that time to get rid of Cheeks on purpose so the next candidate would look good. Fortunately, the Stiff man had a plan. What, he didn't have a plan after firing Cheeks? Hence, Tony Dileo, who had last coached women's basketball in Germany. By the end of the season, the Sixers were in no better shape than the year before, and oh, the ENTIRE TEAM COMPLETELY QUIT ON THE COACH!!!!! An entire year wasted, yet the worst (Eddie Jordan) was yet to come. Say what you want about Cheeks, but at least the guys played for him. I don't blame Dileo, he like everyone else was a victim of the MOST INCOMPETENT NBA FRONT OFFICE PERSON EVER!!! A GUY WHO MAKES BILLY KING LOOK LIKE JERRY WEST!!! Dileo is just here as a figurehead so someone can carry out the personnel decisions that DC wants. It's ok, I guess, but I feel better with Rod Thorn in there as a voice of wisdom. I always say, though, that of all of the decisions the new owners made, their first one was the best: "See ya, Ed, and don't let the door hit you in the rear end on the way out. Oh, and thanks for taking over the Raptors and making them irrelevant, one less team to worry about."— mjc1
- Sometimes, the guy who appears to be the "safe" choice, isn't safe at all. If you liked the draft picks since Larry Brown left, and perhaps before Larry Brown came, this is your guy. For the most part, I don't like Tony DiLeo's work; when he has been interviewed, when he is publicly evaluating what he values or likes in a player, I feel like he is watching a much different game than I am. He loves athletic swingmen; he seems to aggressively pursue guys who are jack-of-all-trades guys. The guys he likes are often lousy shooters, questionable ball-handlers, but they are willing to defend, athletic, and are RARELY polished products. I'm sorry that Doug wasn't able to find another candidate besides Danny Ferry that he found satisfactory; even with the acquisition of Bynum, this personnel group DESPERATELY needed some new blood, fresh ideas.— 76erfn
- I think they should have brought someone in from outside the organization. They need a fresh perspective. They have made some really good moves and this season could be fun. I just think they need new blood in management.— Horlet
- yawn— HAROLD Eskin
- Good move! Sixers off-season has been fantastic!— incog69
- 76erfn the best post on here this guy has done nothing but hurt this team and one move doesn't take the place of 23 years of doing absolutely nothing to help this team! If anyone thinks DC is a good GM look only at the first 2 moves Hawes a lame Hawes who was hurt with 2 significant injuries after wasting 85 mil on a lame Brand to make Hawes your first move! Then Brown who Collins was given the no answer the year before on this dog! Just because he felt bad of how he has coached every young player that has played for him 6er fans should not have to suffer! Now the ultimate behind kisser is our GM! Bynum 1 and done!— Sam 52
- the more things change (bynum), the more things stay the same..
— astroqueen0 - Congratulations to Tony Dileo. His knowledge about basketball is as good as anybody. He will be a good GM.— cchere
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About this blog
John Mitchell is in his second year covering the 76ers for the Inquirer after joining the paper in November 2011. He covered the Washington Wizards for the Washington Times from 1998 to 2008. He's also worked at the Philadelphia Tribune, the Wilmington News Journal, Courier-Post, Trenton Times and Elmira Star-Gazette.Born and raised in West Philadelphia - not too far from Will Smith - he graduated from Overbrook High School the same year the 76ers won their last championship. He's a proud graduate of Howard University and the proud father of two sons, Jared and Jordan.
ABOUT MARC NARDUCCI
Marc Narducci has served in a variety of roles with the Inquirer since beginning in 1983. He has covered the 76ers as a backup and a beat writer. In addition, Narducci has covered everything from the Super Bowl to the World Series and a lot in between. Narducci also has a true passion for South Jersey scholastic sports, which he has covered for many years.
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