Posted: Thursday, August 12, 2010, 2:02 PM | 20 comments |
 

Thorn Joins Sixers Long-Term
options
 

This came together quickly. Ed Snider, the 76ers' chairman, and Peter Luukko, the chief operating officer of Comcast-Spectacor, reached out to Rod Thorn about joining the organization.

When the smoke cleared, a source familiar with the situation said Thorn had agreed to a contract of ''more than three years'' as president of the team, and that he had also agreed to remain as a consultant at whatever point his term as president ended.

At the same time, Snider and Luukko agreed to keep Ed Stefanski, who had been president and general manager, in place as the GM. A press conference is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Wells Fargo Center.

The deal, which had been in the works for ''a couple of weeks'' according to the source, came together Tuesday. The formal announcement is scheduled this morning at the Wells Fargo Center..

''We thought this was a great opportunity,'' Luukko said. ''Rod brings a wealth of experience and knowledge. He's a one of a kind guy. He has been a player, a coach and an executive, and has been an executive in the NBA office.''

Thorn and Stefanski worked together with the New Jersey Nets and now will do so again.

''If you look at last season, nobody did a good job,'' Luukko said. ''Don't pin that on Ed (Stefanski). And this was a unique opportunity. Rod and Ed were a great team with the Nets/ We just decided the two jobs were too much for one man. We believe this is a win-win situation.''

 
Posted by Phil Jasner @ 2:02 PM  Permalink | 20 comments
20
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:04 AM, 08/12/2010
    Like any of this matters ... hire a loser from a loser program, and expect to make things better ... classic ... NJ is so bad they hired Billy King, and we know what he is worth, and he took this guys job, THAT is the bottom line ... loser team at the moment, worst in the city, with no money room to work their way out of it ... Worst part about this, is I had to suffer through a Dei " face for radio" Lynam update , while trying to watch Phils postgame ...
    — AsValidAsYours
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:09 AM, 08/12/2010
    Try some Fiber One....you might feel better. Sheesh. Good pick up Sixers. Less of a role for Stefanski sounds good to me. No offense.
    — XmarksTheSpot
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:28 AM, 08/12/2010
    I guess you guys don't remember the fact that the Nets went to the finals twice under stefanski and thorn. They had the nets relevant for quite some time. People really do have short term memories. This is an incredible addition to our front office.
    — sister mary francis
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:08 AM, 08/12/2010
    Sister Mary - no disrespect intended, but please remember when NJ went to the Finals. It was summers of 2002 and 2003. Stefanski was essentially a scout at that point (irrespective of title), as he was hired by John Nash back in '99. Let's get Stefanski out of the way first - he's completely incompetent (moves over the last 3 years don't need to be rehashed here). Re: Thorn. I agree with you that Thorn did an excellent job during the first 4 or 5 years of his term, but then allowed the inmates to run the asylum. Remember that 2003-2004 season when NJ fired Byron Scott midway through, even though NJ had gone to the Finals 2 years in a row. Why did they fire him? Because Jason Kidd felt he was too much of a drill seargeant to the players. How'd that Lawrence Frank "players' coach" hire work out? NJN never went past the 2nd round of the playoffs again. And, instead of then blowing up the team back in '06 like Thorn should have, he traded for Vince Carter and then inexplicably re-signed him to a 3-yr, $60M deal which left the team in an awful cap scenario. Thorn, while an upgrade over Stefanski, is not exactly a worldbeater these days.
    — Dean1
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:27 AM, 08/12/2010
    The Nets were good for 2 years years ago when the East was brutal. Big deal. The Sixers and Nets keep swapping horrible personnel. And Luukko...don't tell me not to pin it on Ed. Who signed an injured Brand even after it was evident all he wanted was max money and could care less about winning...Ed. Who signed Iguodala for $80 mil when not one GM made him an offer....Ed. Who signed Brand who needed shooters around him to succeed to a team with none...Ed. Who blamed Cheeks for a roster than no coach could win with...Ed. Who tossed away Dalembert's expiring deal on garbage...Ed. Who assembled a high payroll roster with no shooters in a league that succeeds with shooters....Ed.
    — JonKap
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:34 AM, 08/12/2010
    And you missed the biggest blunder of all - Who really wanted to sign Eddie Jordan? Ed did
    — snakeman
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:03 AM, 08/12/2010
    Ed "One Foot in the Sixers Grave" Stefanski
    — jimmy76er
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:06 AM, 08/12/2010
    Im not really sticking up for Eddie as much as I am liking the move to get Thorn. I agree Stefanski made some terrible moves
    — sister mary francis
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:07 AM, 08/12/2010
    loser organizations hire losers.
    — manly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:35 AM, 08/12/2010
    this guy comes from a losing organization. they hired our trash(billy King) who ruined this team along with ed stafanski and we take their trash rod thorn this guy won't do anything for this team. this team is irrelevant in this town
    — mikeb7121
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:47 AM, 08/12/2010
    I guess it is a true catch 22, you hire someone without experience it is a big gamble, you hire someone with experience, they are inevitably another teams cast off, maybe a sacrificial lamb, but a cast off nonetheless. Sure this guy "won" for a few years, followed by a longer run of futility, more under his watch than the winning was ... so is he a proven winner or a proven loser ? or does this only prove that there really are maybe 6 relevant teams in the league and it should condense and get stronger. and to "X" - Minimizing Stefanski's role, shouldn't be the main upside of the hire, sad if that is the best reason ... but thanks for the Fiber tip, really got my "stuff" together now :D
    — AsValidAsYours
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:56 AM, 08/12/2010
    Truth be told I have zero time for the NBA, it is a shell of the league it used to be....players only want to make the highlights on SportsCenter and couldn't care less about wins and losses. It is unwatchable and I think I have watched maybe 2 Sixers games in the last 5 years. That being said I couldnt pass up the opportunity to comment that when I think of organizations to emulate, the New Jersey Nets immediately pop into my head. Seriously, for a team that can't fill half a building, what are they thinking. Collins was seemingly one step forward and now they have once again taken two steps back. Unbelievable.
    — beagle29
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:03 PM, 08/12/2010
    when did the nets become the business model for the 76ers? thorn & stefanski took the nets from first to worst and gave away its core players like they were diseased. snider should listen to people who know basketball and not do everything lew kats tells him to do.
    — frenval
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:04 PM, 08/12/2010
    Sounds like everything is in place, Thorn, Stefanski, now all they need is to sell the team to Lewis Katz. Hmmmmmm
    — downthemiddle


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About Bob Cooney
Bob Cooney has been at the Daily News for more than 20 years, working in the sports department for the past 15. This is his third season on the Sixers beat. He has covered just about everything, but mostly college basketball, where he was the La Salle beat writer for six seasons. E-mail Bob at cooneyb@phillynews.com and follow him on Twitter.

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