HoopsHype.com Rumors

Philadelphia 76ers coach Doug Collins is making a push for increased organizational power and has been a driving force behind the movement to replace team president Rod Thorn, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. Danny Ferry, a front-office executive with the San Antonio Spurs, met with 76ers owners in Philadelphia over the weekend to discuss a president/general manager’s job, sources said. Ferry has emerged as the frontrunner for the position, but still hasn’t been sold that the possible job structure makes sense for him to depart a comfortable situation under Spurs GM RC Buford. Yahoo! Sports

Philadelphia 76ers, Rod Thorn, Danny Ferry, RC Buford, Doug Collins 

The Sixers are currently interviewing potential replacements for president of basketball operations Rod Thorn, team sources told the Daily News on Monday. Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia 76ers, Rod Thorn 

The team has received permission to talk with personnel executives from some teams, a source said. The Sixers also have been turned down by some organizations. Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia 76ers, Rod Thorn 

Potential candidates, according to league sources, include San Antonio vice president of operations Danny Ferry; Spurs assistant GM Dennis Lindsey; Jeff Bower, who was a general manager for the New Orleans Hornets; Oklahoma City assistant GM Troy Weaver; Atlanta GM Rick Sund, whose contract expires at the end of June; and Milwaukee GM John Hammond, who has a year remaining on his deal. Hammond, who was denied permission to talk to Portland last month, was an assistant coach for Doug Collins with Detroit. The Sixers' interview group consists of owner Josh Harris, CEO Adam Aron, Collins and Thorn, a source said. Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia 76ers, Dennis Lindsey, Rod Thorn, Danny Ferry, Jeff Bower, Troy Weaver, John Hammond, Doug Collins, Rick Sund, Adam Aron 

A team source said that the process of replacing Thorn could take up to a year, which is why the search has started now. If "Mr. Right" were to come along in the near future, the Sixers would make the hire and Thorn would assume his part-time role immediately. The search did not start until after the Sixers' run into the second round of the playoffs had ended, the source said. Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia 76ers, Rod Thorn 

For now, Thorn remains "in the saddle," the team source said, overseeing all that is happening now and preparing for the busy weeks ahead. That could change very quickly, or remain status quo until his contract is up. But the process to finding his successor has begun. Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia 76ers, Rod Thorn 

Tom Moore: Asked #Sixers prez Rod Thorn if Lou Williams has informed team he's opting out of contract. "Not officially but he will," he replied. Twitter

Philadelphia 76ers, Free Agency, Rod Thorn, Lou Williams 

Tom Moore: Asked if #Sixers plan to re-sign restricted FA Lavoy Allen & Jodie Meeks, team president Rod Thorn: "We are formulating our plans now." Twitter

Philadelphia 76ers, Free Agency, Rod Thorn, Lavoy Allen, Jodie Meeks 

Sixers president Rod Thorn insists there’s no truth to a report claiming he’s “leaning toward” retirement. “Not at all,” said Thorn via email Thursday in regard to the report, which appeared on cbssports.com and cited an unnamed source. phillyburbs.com

Philadelphia 76ers, Rod Thorn 

“I’m healthy and I enjoy the competition,” said Thorn, 71. “We’ve been relatively successful here in the last couple years, so I’d like to (continue). But who knows?” phillyburbs.com

Philadelphia 76ers, Rod Thorn 

Rod Thorn expects to be back as president of the 76ers. Thorn is under contract for multiple additional seasons — believed to be three — after nearly two years on the job and the team’s new ownership group hasn’t told him he won’t return. “I don’t know anything to the contrary, so I assume I will be,” said Thorn after Wednesday’s pre-draft workout at St. Joseph’s University. phillyburbs.com

Philadelphia 76ers, Rod Thorn 

Rod Thorn says there’s nothing to a published report Sunday that claimed there are “whispers that Rod Thorn may have had enough.” “(I have) no plans on retiring at this time,” said Thorn in an email response Monday. “I’m (getting) ready for the draft.” Thorn, who turns 71 on Wednesday, became the team’s president and general manager Aug. 12, 2010, after 10 seasons as president of the Nets. The previous ownership regime of Ed Snider and Peter Luukko hired Thorn to replace Ed Stefanski. The new owners, led by managing owner Josh Harris and CEO Adam Aron, assumed control of the team Oct. 17, 2011. phillyburbs.com

Philadelphia 76ers, Rod Thorn 

Tom Moore: Asked #Sixers Rod Thorn if he's thinking about signing a player to the 13-man roster. "Don’t know right now. We’ll see. Probably not.” Twitter

Philadelphia 76ers, Free Agency, Rod Thorn 

Tom Moore: #Sixers president Rod Thorn denies report that he talked to #Bobcats about G-F Reggie Williams before trading for Sam Young. Twitter

Charlotte Bobcats, Philadelphia 76ers, Trade, Rod Thorn, Reggie Williams, Sam Young 

As for the trade front, president Rod Thorn didn't say the Sixers wouldn't do anything, but it sure sounds as though nothing will happen. "There's always a lot of talk going on at this time of the year; we've talked with most of the teams throughout the league," Thorn said. "Right now, to say if anything is going to transpire or not, you just don't know. I couldn't say one way or the other. You listen to everything and try to see if there's something that could help your team without breaking it up." Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia 76ers, Trade, Rod Thorn 

Thorn appears committed to the grow-together route, and he doesn’t appear to be ready to let a few losses by a team that is playing without its starting center and power forward, Brand, color his opinion. This doesn’t mean that he won’t listen. "Conversation always heats up right before the deadline," Thorn said. "There will be more talking and more phone calls made. And I will listen to anyone and anybody who mentions anything that might possibly help our team." Has that tempting call come yet? "Nope," Thorn said. Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia 76ers, Trade, Rod Thorn 

One Eastern Conference general manager reached earlier in the week said that he didn’t think the 76ers would make a move at the deadline. "You never know, but they are having some success with their younger players," said the GM, speaking under condition of anonymity. "If you can land the great player, and you are in position to do it and not gut your roster, you do it. But how many guys are there out there? And how often do they get moved at the trade deadline?" Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia 76ers, Trade, Rod Thorn 

The Sixers lead the Atlantic Division with a surprising 20-9 record. Is this a time that the organization should go "all-in" (sorry, Eagles) and try to get as far as it can in the playoffs, or stand pat and let this team evolve? Team president Rod Thorn will ultimately answer that question. "As you have heard me say a lot, I don't ever feel a pressing need to do something, because I feel we have a good team. Plus you can only do something if you can do something," he said. "There is a lot of conjecture of, why don't you get this guy, why don't you get that guy. But you might not be able to get a guy unless you get rid of most of your team. You work the phones, talk to people and try to identify exactly what you would like to have and see how it works out." Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia 76ers, Trade, Rod Thorn 

Much of the conversation probably will take place during the All-Star weekend, a little more than 2 weeks before the March 15 trading deadline. "Normally, around the All-Star break and trade deadline is when talks sort of heat up among teams in the league," Thorn said. "I don't think this year will be any different along those lines. There are a lot of injuries around the league. Certainly, we've been hurt, but some teams have been devastated. The tough thing is it's so hard to recover [from injuries] when you never get to practice. With us, from the time we played New Orleans [Jan. 4] until, I think, March 11, we never have more than 1 day between games. We're playing virtually every day, so bodies are tired. I think teams that can stay relatively healthy have a huge advantage." Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia 76ers, Trade, Rod Thorn 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you about the Marbury-for-Kidd trade, even if you’ve been asked thousands of times. Would you have made that trade today, with all the advanced analytics and stats we have now? Thorn: Marbury was 22 and he was a great young player — an All-Star. Kidd was 28 and had a lot of problems. I had been around Kidd with the [2000] Olympic team in Puerto Rico. Every player wanted to play with Jason Kidd. Nobody on that team wanted to play with Stephon. Nobody wanted to play with the guy. Kidd had every intangible you could possibly have. He guarded. He rebounded. He was great chemistry-wise because he passed the ball. Even though at the time there was a lot of criticism because of the difference in ages, I knew it was a good trade, because I had been around both guys, and I knew who was a better player. Kidd made our team twice as good right away. SI.com

Brooklyn Nets, Rod Thorn, Jason Kidd, Stephon Marbury