76ers GM says Embiid, Simmons will stay

PHILADELPHIA » The next coach of the Philadelphia 76ers can count on having Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.

One day after the Sixers fired Brett Brown following another early playoff exit, general manager Elton Brand said he’s evaluating the front office and considering more changes but doesn’t plan to trade either of his two top stars.

“I’m not looking to trade Ben or Joel,” Brand said Tuesday. “I’m looking to complement them better. They are 24 and 26 years old, respectively. You try to make that fit as long as you can. They want to be here, they want to be with our organization and I see them here for a long, long time.”

Simmons was sidelined for Philadelphia’s first-round sweep against Boston.

“That’s a huge key to us getting swept,” Brand said. “I would love to see this group with Ben Simmons, but I don’t want to make any excuses. But I think that attention to detail, that energy level, that certain push that we didn’t have at times.”

The Sixers underachieved after reaching the Eastern Conference semifinals each of the past two seasons. They fell to the sixth seed and couldn’t win a playoff game, costing Brown his job. Players mentioned that lack of accountability was a problem under Brown.

“I think the accountability starts with the top of the organization, it starts with me,” Brand said. “I have to hold myself accountable on how to push these guys, how to push this group. The new coach also has got to find that balance on how to push these AllStar players to that next stage. It’s not a collegiate level where you pull a guy and curse him out or maybe it is. And that’s what we have to figure out. And that’s what we have to find that balance.