 Exclusive: Interview With Ed Stefanski Last week, shortly after I wrote this post, I received an e-mail from the Sixers PR department asking me if I'd like to talk to President/General Manager Ed Stefanski. Needless to say, I immediately replied in the affirmative, checked to make sure this wasn't a cruel prank and began preparing the questions I would ask. I bit my tongue here, because I didn't want to jinx anything.On Monday, Mr. Stefanski gave me a call and we had a 20-minute conversation which ranged from international scouting to Herbert Hill's status. He shared his short-term and long-term plans for the team, discussed the Kyle Korver trade in detail and provided some context, broke down the futures of rookies Thad Young and Jason Smith and even aired a beef he had with me. It was a rare opportunity for a blogger to talk to the GM of a team he covers, and I'd like to thank the Sixers and Mr. Stefanski for taking the time to speak to Sixers fans through this blog. Continue reading after the jump for the full interview complete with quotes.
After a few minor problems with the confusing phone system in my office, Ed Stefanski finally got through to me at about 2:15, Monday afternoon. We said our hellos, I introduced myself to him and he made it pretty clear right away that he had a bone to pick with me: "I have a problem with your handle...Depressed Fan? Jesus!" was his opening salvo to our interview. Great way to start, huh? We had a laugh over that, I explained my reasons for the blog's name and we took it from there. Going into the interview I had about 10 questions written down. My main goals were to get a feel for Stefanski's plan for the future of the franchise, get to the bottom of the Korver trade, get his take on the state of the Sixers right now, as a newcomer to the organization, and see how things were going to be different under him than they were under Billy King. Over his 8 years with the Nets, as Scouting Director, VP of Basketball Operations and finally General Manager, Stefanski earned a reputation as a top-notch talent evaluator. My first question was designed to draw upon his skills as an evaluator, as well as his history working for a division rival. I wanted to know which Sixers had surprised him when he came to Philly. Who was better than the scouting report the Nets have on him. Stefanski went right to the draft to answer my first question. The Nets picked #17 in the first round (They took Sean Williams from B.C.), he said both Thad Young and Jason Smith were on their radar for that pick. They interviewed both of them and he while he was impressed then, he's been blown away since seeing them play and practice every day. On Jason Smith, "He's an NBA basketball player, no question in my mind. He's a 7-footer with a very high skill set. He's a wonderful kid and a hard worker. There's no doubt he should become a good player. Is he a starter? I'm not sure, but he's definitely a rotation type basketball player."  On Thad Young, "He is better than I thought. He was one of the best interviews we'd ever had, Rod (Thorn) and I. We knew he had the personality make-up. People said he was a nice kid, and he really is, but he has a little bit of an edge to him on the court, which is important. Which I like. To me he has very big upside. What everyone has to remember is that this kid is 19 and he won't be 20 until until June. The fans should feel good that he's in the game and we're seeing more and more of him. He has a chance to be a bonafide starter with no question. How high he can go is up to him. He listens to the coaches and he works hard just like Jason Smith.""Where Thaddeus' game will get to the next level is when he works on his handle and gets his handle better. To be that size and be able to handle the ball, he can go anywhere on the court. I think that's the one thing he needs to work on." He continued. Stefanski then turned the spotlight on an established player, Sam Dalembert. "Since I've been here, Sam Dalembert has been off-the-charts good. I mean, not just good, off-the-charts good. Sammy has done more than I expected when I came in." I followed up with a question about Thad's role. I asked if he saw Andre Iguodala moved over to the two and Thad as his starter at the three, 2 years down the road. His response, "You could definitely project that no problem, but I'm hoping it happens a lot sooner than 2 years. This is going to be a huge Summer for both of those guys." Since we were talking about rookies, I then asked for an update on Herbert Hill's injury situation. "His knee has not responded as well to the surgery, so I'd say you aren't going to see him for a few weeks still." We went on to talk about his background in overseas scouting and I asked if he was going to improve or at least put a greater emphasis on international scouting in Philadelphia. He said he didn't think it was an organizational bias against overseas talent, but more of an opportunity thing. The Sixers have good scouts in Europe, and they were actually one of the teams taking a hard look at Andres Nocioni a couple of years ago. Bringing foreign talent to the team is definitely something he'll look to do, but only if the opportunity presents itself, he went on to explain.  It was finally time to broach the issue of the one roster move Stefanski has orchestrated, the Kyle Korver trade. I asked him to walk me through the deal, beginning to end, and he had some interesting things to say. Basically, when he took over he had a couple of options, either make some changes or stick with the status quo. In his own words, "The status quo was not an option."I think this was the key part of the interview, because we got to the root of Stefanski's blueprint for rebuilding this team. "The ultimate goal every year when you start this thing is to win an NBA championship. If that isn't your goal, you shouldn't be in the game." With this goal in mind, he went on to talk about Korver, "Kyle Korver is a good player, a very good shooter, I'll say. A very good shooter. On a team that doesn't have a low-post presence, he isn't as good of shooter as he would be on a team with one. He's not going to get as many open looks on a team without a low-post presence because if I'm coaching against them I just tell my guy, well just cover Korver, don't worry about helping out. If you're coaching against us (the Sixers) who do you have to double that's going to leave Korver open?" The logic is that Kyle Korver is a luxury for the Sixers at this point. A complete, playoff team needs a shooter like him, they need a guy who can hit the open three. On a team like the Sixers, without all of the basic pieces in place, that finishing touch is almost wasted. That makes Korver much more valuable to a team like Utah than he was to the Sixers. That's the on-the-court reasoning, the bigger picture is what the Sixers got in return for him. "We're in a position right now where we want to go into the Summer with cap space. Right now, we're at a low of $10M in cap space, a high of $12M depending on where the league number comes in. We are under the cap and our options are much, much more liberal than they would be if we were over the cap. We can use this money either to sign a free agent, or to trade, with a player or without a player, to another team in a situation where that team doesn't have to take money on. If you look around the league, there are always teams that are unhappy with what went on. They're spending a lot of money on their players, and you know, it's just not working so let's see if we can get rid of a guy or two. We'll be situated in the Summer so that if an opportunity like this arises, we can seize that opportunity. We feel that it's really important that with the team we have, it's crucial that we have this flexibility. We also got extra value in the future draft pick." The logic here is that a shooter of Korver's caliber, while important to a complete team, is less valuable than the basic needs. If you can give up the shooter to get the star, or in this case, the low-post presence, then you can get another shooter down the line. It's worth noting here that Stefanski didn't try to sell us a line. He didn't say something like, well we got Giricek back so we didn't lose that much on the court. In fact, he didn't even mention Giricek by name. The haul here was the cap space first and the draft pick second, end of story. I give him credit for this frank appraisal of the situation. At the same time, it must be said that while I'm in favor of the Korver deal, I would've preferred to send a guy like Willie Green or Rodney Carney the other way in a deal that would've created cap space. Korver is an asset, that's the reason the Sixers got such a haul for him, but losing an asset does have a finite cost when you're trying to rebuild a team. It seemed like we kept skirting the upcoming Summer throughout the conversation, so now was a good time to dive right in. I started off by mentioning a couple of names who may or may not be available (Josh Smith, Elton Brand, Antawn Jameson), obviously he couldn't comment on anyone specifically, but we could talk in general terms. His direct quote was, "We want to bring in another guy at the level of Andre Miller and Andre Iguodala. The preference would be, like so many teams, that that guy would be a power forward. A big man." When I asked him if he thought the $10M-$12M in cap space would be enough to land one of the impact restricted free agents (Josh Smith, Emeka Okafor, Luol Deng) his response, "It'll be interesting. We'll make it interesting. The thing is, right now, we're the only team with any kind of money. That could change if other teams try to do the same thing we've done at the trading deadline. But right now, we're the only game in town." Speaking of the trade deadline, I then asked if there could be more moves on the horizon, to clear even more cap space, his response, "You know, people look at the deal we made (Korver) and they think we're just gutting the team, which we're not. Let me just reiterate, we are not looking to trade Andre Miller. I'm not making any calls. We're fielding calls. We field calls every day, but we are not actively trying to trade Andre Miller. He's a great player and why not keep him and build around him?" We talked a little bit about Billy King. Stefanski pointed to the late draft picks King turned into solid players (Lou Williams, Sam Dalembert, Willie Green) and whenever he talked about the future of the team he talked about Thad Young and Jason Smith. He spoke highly of the motivation and resilience of this young team, which never seems to give up even though they aren't the most talented team out there. His parting words, "I think the future is bright. Have I made you a little less depressed?" Honestly, I think it was great that he took the time to call me and just have a conversation about the Sixers. I do like the flexibility the Korver trade gives the Sixers this offseason, but the jury is still out. That cap space has to be turned into something, and it has to be turned into something special. If $10M-$12M isn't enough to land one of the top-flight restricted free agents, then more moves should be made to clear more cap space. The future of the team will depend largely on the development of Thad Young, Lou Williams and Jason Smith, but it can be greatly accelerated with a key acquisition or two this offseason. I think Stefanski realizes this, he isn't talking about three-year plans, he's talking about tangible, big changes in the near future. Changes which could catapult this team into the playoffs. I'm confident he's got this franchise headed in the right direction, but we need to see the results before I'll be able to fully shake my depression. Again, a huge thanks to Mr. Stefanski and the Sixers organization. It's a forward-thinking GM who reaches out to the fans in this manner, I'm hoping more teams and executives will follow suit. 
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Very, very impressive. I find it amazing that the organization took the initiative to reached out to you. Nice work.
Thanks. I was pretty shocked myself, I think they're really making an effort to reach out to the fans, let them know what their plan is so they buy in.
Excellent interview, Brian! You ask some great questions and got a good idea of where the Sixers are heading. Great work!
Watching Daily News on Comcast Sports Net last night, there was a hint that maybe AI2 might not be a Sixer next year. You mention now that the two names Stefanski kept talking about were Smith and Young. AI2 turned down what the commentators thought was a lot of money from the Sixers. Do you think Stefanski would trade him? Could that be a possibility?
I like Stefanski's comments on Andre Miller. He's not actively trying to trade him, but he is listening to offers from the sounds of it. Someone eventually may make an offer to overpay for him. He's keeping options open, and Miller's trade value high by saying he's not on the market.
I still miss Korver and think he was an asset too, but understand the thinking better around the trade now. Jury is still out on that move and will be until the Sixers decide how they will allocate that open cap space, at least in my mind.
Let's hope they use it wisely.
Outstanding!
Brian Cashman, where are you?
excellent Brian, congratulations !!!
You were luckier, and better, than me. Last year I sent an email to Sixer PR dept to ask some quick questions (not an interview, though) and I got no reply, zero, nada, zip... pretty surprising, I am a PR myself here and for similar cases some colleagues got fired and/or had real troubles with their bosses.
The rule here is that even if you can't or don't want to answer to a specific topic/question you at least take two minutes to reply to the mail saying "thanks for contacting us but sorry we can't/don't wan't to...". Evidently Sixers PR didn't follow the rule
So to cut it short, Stefanski will hopefully turn also the marketing/PR dept around, LOL. This is a good sign, because they took the initiative and contacted you first. good stuff.
As for the contents of the interview, I really like that they want to keep Miller, I also think it will be a smart move because LW still doesn't look ready for a season at starter. Also MIller's value next year will be even higher than it already is, not only he will (hopefully) go on being the nice player he is, but he will also be an expiring 10 millions, a win-win situation for us
The other point I loved is when he says to bring in "another player at Iguodala/Miller level", I like that he always talked about the 2004 Pistons as a model, a group of 4-5 excellent players at the same level with no "big" superstar. We are two players and an HOF coach away from that project, LOL
I completely agree on Stefanski's point about Korver and it was cool to read the reasons that led to the trade
congratulations again !!!
(PS: do you think that he avoiding to mention Carney means that we will get rid of the bum?)
Brian, one more thing, I think you can make a promise to Stefanski, if he will lead us to... well, you know where, you will change your handle and call this blog "Smiling fan" or "Partying fan" or similar... you will have no more reasons to be "depressed" !!
JJ,
When he talked about the future, he talked about building around Miller and Iguodala, plus the development of Lou Williams, Jason Smith and Thad Young. I think that's the core. If someone blew his socks off with an offer for Miller, I don't think he'd hesitate to do it, but if you think about it, with the cap space that they're going to have, he could trade Miller straight up for any salary in the league this Summer. His $9.9M + $10-$12M in cap space = over $20M in a trade. That's a lot of flexibility, if a true superstar becomes available. I don't think that's the direction he was talking about, but it's now a possibility.
Ricky,
A championship from any of my teams will result in a changing of the blog's name, at least until the parade is over :)
Wow, that is really impressive that the Sixers PR department contacted you. I can only hope that this becomes the norm around the NBA, the more access for the fans the better.
I might be falling in love with Ed Stefanski already, I know, I know it’s so soon. But it's like being in a bad relationship for such a long time (cough Billy King cough), that you forget what it’s like for someone to treat you with respect and dignity. So thank you Ed, for making it easy to believe again. Doing this interview is the equivalent of bringing home flowers “just because”.
nice work. a really insightful interview. especially about the korver trade.
Great stuff. Thanks!
Wow, nice work Brian. Where to ask good questions, too. I wouldn't even know what to ask of the Knicks front office!
I don't know why people are giving you congrats on the interview (aside from the fact that you managed to GET the interview). You get one chance to interview Big Ed on the current/future layout of the 76ers and those are the questions you ask him? Talk about layups. Here's your chance to make a mark for yourself, and do some actual "reporting" and you go for the typical "What are your thoughts on player X."
Don't mean to rain on your parade here kid, awesome job getting the interview and hopefully this might have opened a door for you with the 76ers people (to the best of my knowledge they don't have a full time blogger for the team yet)... but next time get some information that we couldn't get just by turning on DNL.
Connor,
I don't think I asked him the typical rote questions he'd get from anyone. I wanted his thoughts on the roster before he came here (as a division rival) and his thoughts now. I wanted him to explain his reasoning for the Korver trade, and put it in perspective with his larger plan. I wanted to know what he was planning on doing with the cap space he's created. And I wanted a sense of how the culture in Philly was going to change now that he'd replaced BK.
I'm not a professional journalist, so I suppose I could've asked him any random question that popped into my head. But he is a GM and he can't answer questions that could constitute tampering. I spent a lot of time coming up with questions that I didn't think he'd answered before, that he'd be allowed to answer. The last thing I wanted was to get him on the phone and pepper him with stupid, slanted questions. That would've made for a very short interview.
Very cool.
Great job, DF, on getting and executing the interview and the ensuing post. I enjoyed reading it as much as anyone could enjoy anything about the current state of the Sixers, and you and Ed deserve congrats for that.
I do have to take issue with one thing:
"At the same time, it must be said that while I'm in favor of the Korver deal, I would've preferred to send a guy like Willie Green or Rodney Carney the other way in a deal that would've created cap space. Korver is an asset, that's the reason the Sixers got such a haul for him, but losing an asset does have a finite cost when you're trying to rebuild a team."
Korver is an asset, that is how they managed to get two assets (a first and the contract) for him. Green and Carney are not really assets, so honestly why would any other team give up an expiring or a pick for either of those two? You have to give to get. If anyone would give up anything for Green, I am sure he would have jumped on it before the other GM sobered up.
But overall, solid interview. Don't know how anyone can really expect more as you said above he obviously can't temper and he certainly isn't going to get into specific plans or throw any current player under the bus.
Carlos,
That line about Rodney Carney and Willie Green was more of an "In a perfect world" scenario. I realize you have to give something up to get something. I just wanted to point out that we did give up something of value in Korver, a lot of people have devalued his importance to the team.
Two Words: Gilbert Arenas.
Nice interview!
p.s. Sixers win!!!
What an opportunity to talk the man himself! Thanks for the in-depth coverage, Brian.
I'm a Sixers fan from Taiwan. As with the US fans, AI used to be the crowd favorite here. But now that the 76ers are heading into post-Iverson era, any information regarding the team's future, such as thie interview, becomes key.
Would you mind if I translate this piece into Chinese on our forum?
HW
p.s. Your Willie Green Garbage Meter totally cracked me up last season. But I guess he's improved enough to shake off the embarrassment.
HanwayL,
I wouldn't mind at all. Can you send me the link to the translation when you're done?
I think the Korver deal was a lot smarter than it looked initially. Trading him leaves us bereft of any three-point shooting whatsoever, which makes it a lot easier for teams to pack it in on us in the paint. As it turns out, we've only won one game since we traded him. It was a great way to tank the season without appearing to be tanking or trading Miller. If we hadn't done it, we'd have no chance at a top five pick.
Just heard props on WIP. Nice job. Thanks for coming over the the board and giving thanks.
will look forward to reading more from you.
That's awesome. Was it a caller who brought it up, or did the hosts?
Brian,
The thing is, it's not a web-based forum. It's one of thousands of "discussion boards" on a site called PTT, where you have anywhere from 20K to 70K users online any time of the day. PTT uses the primitive yet effective electronic Bullentin Board System, or BBS. The text-based system is obviously outdated in the US, but still popular here.
So, in short, unless you have a telnet program that reads Chinese, I'd better to put the translation somehwere else on the internet. I'll let you know when it's done. Sounds good?
This team needs rebounders and shooters. Period. That's how they will rebuild. This year they are one of the top teams in rebounding the basketball and the worst in shooting the ball. So they need players that can shoot the basketball at a high percentage from the three point line. For now in order for this team with the way it's is and the players they have to win, they must defense their ass off. They must defend the entire court. Defense is the only way they will win games. They have to get physical and tuff on the defensive end.
Good Luck to the Sixers. Hopefully they can surprise a lot of people and take out the Pistons. Pistons think they are better then they are. They are over looking the 76ers big time. Andre Iguodala is a beast!!!