On October 3, the Sixers officially hired former Clippers’ Head Coach Doc Rivers. Rivers was let go from the Clippers after failing to advance the team to the Western Conference Finals. 

Although having talented core players and regular-season success, the Sixers have struggled in the playoffs for the past couple of years. Recently acquired Al Horford and Tobias Harris have been at the forefront of the blame, as they have not lived up to expectations. However, it is important to note that Tobias Harris was originally coached under Doc Rivers in Los Angeles before being sent to Philadelphia. Rivers coached Harris through his All-Star year and seems very familiar with how to utilize him. This could help Harris elevate his game and perhaps fix his inefficiency on the court.

Throughout his 21 seasons as a head coach in the NBA, Rivers holds an overall record of 983-643 over his NBA coaching career and won an NBA Championship in 2008 with the Celtics. With his experience, Rivers has seen virtually everything there is to encounter in the NBA and can hopefully help develop the relatively young core of the Sixers. 

However, he recently has not had much luck in the playoffs. In his latest playoff run, Rivers was criticized for his inability to make in-game adjustments, something the Sixers have struggled with as well; this is something Rivers will need to overcome if he wants to elevate the Sixers to the next level.

In a press conference, Rivers commented on the team’s roster: “This team is loaded with talent. We just have to figure out how to make it work.” Rivers also listed names of those he believes he can heavily utilize as scorers: Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, Shake Milton, and Josh Richardson. Not among those names is Al Horford. This increases the possibility that Horford will be shipped out of Philadelphia, which would be a great opportunity to bring in someone else who better fits Rivers’ system.

At the end of the interview, Rivers made it clear that adjustments to the lineup will come: “We will keep working till we get the right lineup.” With large changes to come, Rivers’ success in Philadelphia will ultimately come down to whether or not the roster can adjust to his coaching system and his coaching system can carry success into the postseason. But for now, we just have to wait.