Is Andre Miller the Next 76er Sent Out of Philly?

When Mo Cheeks lost his job today, the Sixers reportedly named Tony DiLeo as the "permanent interim," or the head coach for the rest of the season. Similar distinctions were made in every other NBA sacking this season -- there will be no midseason hirings of Flip Saunders or Avery Johnson, apparently.

DiLeo, as we mentioned earlier, hasn't been so much as an NBA assistant coach in a decade. His only head coaching experience is at the European club level. He is a front office guy now, and front office guys don't typically have major success coaching NBA teams.

As Kevin Pelton notes, the season's young. Philadelphia, while disappointing, isn't out of it as is the case in Washington (who also put a front office guy -- Ed Tapscott -- in charge). The Sixers are only 1.5 games out of the playoffs, in fact. Unless DiLeo has some secret coaching skills brewing under the surface, Philadelphia is basically ignoring a playoff possibility in favor of player evaluation. (On DiLeo's repressed skills: the man was an assistant under some awful Sixer coaches. To my knowledge, he wasn't highly sought out by other teams nor did he get a look by Sixers brass as a candidate. That doesn't speak well to the presence of secret coaching skills.)

Andre Miller is a free agent this summer. If the Sixers don't want press full tilt for the postseason -- and not hiring a coach would indicate this -- then Miller is superfluous. As a point guard, he'll be valued on the market this winter (no matter how mediocre his play has been). It seems a lot more likely with this move that Miller could be gone before long, with Louis Williams getting a try-out at the lead guard position.

(The Sixers, by the way, have Jim Lynam on staff. Lynam has coached more than 700 NBA games. His record isn't spectacular. But he is, y'know, a coach. Jeff Ruland is also an assistant with Philly. He recently served as a head coach in the NCAA, the D-League and has a few NBA assistant coach seasons.)