People have been wondering who the Denver Nuggets have been interviewing for their open general manager aka Vice President of Basketball Operations vacancy. Well, former Philadelphia 76ers GM Tony DiLeo was involved in discussions with the Nuggets about the opening in the front office, according to Chris Haynes of Comcast Sportsnet.
According to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the GM search, says DiLeo is steadfast on a return to management and the source added Nuggets President Josh Kroenke has been pleased with how talks have gone and he considers DiLeo to be a serious candidate.
DiLeo, 57, who has over a decade of NBA executive experience, all with the Sixers, is well respected amongst his peers. He even had a head coaching stint with the organization during the 2008-09 season, guiding them to respectable 32-27 mark and a playoff berth following a 9-14 start under Maurice Cheeks, the new head coach of the Detroit Pistons.
He was a finalist for the Portland Trail Blazers GM post last offseason before the team eventually decided on Neil Olshey.
DiLeo had previously been with the 76ers since 1990. 1990! So, I reached out to Michael Levin of Liberty Ballers on DiLeo and this is what he wrote back:
Tony's a company guy. He'd been with the Sixers for something like two hundred years, rising from nothing all the way up to coach and then GM. He's maybe the least personable guy of all time in front of the media, but I always got the impression that he's open to other ideas and willing to listen to various opinions, including analytics-based ones.
The thing about Tony is that he was never The Guy in Philly. He's had to answer to bigger people with bigger personalities, so we don't really know what he values in a team and what sort of maneuvers he's willing to make. The Bynum trade, which I still support 100%, seems like it was mostly him though. Collins was at the Olympics and Josh Harris hadn't yet taken a huge role in the decision making.
He kinda got a raw deal here.
And you HAVE to read Levin's piece here, too.
Nate_Timmons on Twitter
ntimmons73@yahoo.com
