The Philadelphia 76ers are all in on newly hired head coach Doc Rivers after signing him to a five-year deal, per Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Doc Rivers-Philadelphia 76ers coaching agreement: Five-year deal, sources say.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 1, 2020
The deal will also take him away from front office duties, leaving him strictly to the coaching and development of the Sixers' roster. Rivers agreed to become the new coach for the Philly franchise earlier on Thursday.
The Sixers will benefit from Rivers' style of coaching, and superstar big man Joel Embiid will more than likely reap most of the benefits with Rivers calling the shots. Rivers makes his return to the Eastern Conference where he spent nine years coaching the Boston Celtics and winning a championship during the 2007-08 season with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen. He'll now look to form a new winning environment surrounded by Embiid and two-time All-Star Ben Simmons.
After seven years with the Los Angeles Clippers, the two sides mutually decided to part ways on Monday, making Rivers a desirable target for many teams with coaching vacancies. The Sixers just happened to strike first and hard, with both sides leaving an impression on one another.
Despite Rivers not finding championship success in Los Angeles, he still possesses an impressive coaching résumé. During his 21-year coaching career, he has an overall record of 943-681 (.581) during regular season games . Coming to an Eastern Conference that was wide open this year for a trip to the NBA Finals, Rivers may find his workload and challenges to be painless this go around.
Rivers joins a team that recently let go of Brett Brown, who couldn't get the Sixers over the playoff hump for multiple years, often finding himself in the hot seat. Sixers GM Elton Brand was impressed with Rivers, leading him to bet on the coach for the long haul.
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