The Philadelphia Sixers announced the signing of their new general manager, former player Elton Brand, who is only two years removed from announcing his (second) retirement from the NBA.

While Brand was a popular choice, and one president and head coach Brett Brown hinted at recently during his annual media luncheon, he fell well-short of the “name” general manager the Sixers had wanted to hire.

So why did Philly fall short? Beat writer Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer explained the choices that went into Brand's hiring and the road blocks that came with the offers to other GMs.

“I think Elton Brand was a good hire for what the Sixers want,” said Pompey. “The only problem is the timetable that it took the Sixers to hire a general manager, especially when they hired someone in house. You can make an argument that they always knew they were gonna go inside — reason is initially when they first started they went out and said ‘hey, we wanna go after big names, we wanna go after people who wanna come and take this job, we want the best of the best'. Well, the best candidate out there outside of the organization, that was available, was David Griffin… Some people say that David Griffin didn't have a lot of power — well the Sixers said they wanted to do some collaborative effort. They interviewed David Griffin, and they moved on. They said he didn't fit the system.”

Some would argue that Griffin was perhaps the best and most obvious choice to take the job, but it's likely that after being in the prison of a controlling owner in Dan Gilbert and a pressing superstar like LeBron James, he was seeking more freedom than the Sixers were willing to give.

Pompey explained in further detail why the conversations with Griffin fell through, saying that the Sixers' emphasis in the collaborative effort would bring more blame his way as the frontman and GM, while the rest of the front office could skate by and ultimately fire him for decisions that were taken as a group.

Typicaly newly-appointed GMs will want control of their staff, something Griffin wouldn't get, as the Sixers had committed to giving Brown some say at the executive level.

“You have guys like R.C. Buford, who they went after, Sam Presti, Daryl Morey. These are three high-level general manager who you say you're going after, but you know you're not gonna get them… because they're in great situations,” Pompey explained.

Elton Brand has half a year of experience as a player development coach for the Sixers and one year of executive experience as the GM of the Sixers' affiliate Delaware Blue Coats — making him perhaps a risky move to make, but one that will ensure that the Sixers have it their way without ruffling some feathers in the front office.