NBA Rumors: Doc Rivers Meets With Philadelphia 76ers For Vacant Coaching Job, Report Says

The search for a new team for Doc Rivers begins with a meeting with the Philadelphia 76ers, a report said.

The former Los Angeles Clippers mentor met with Sixers executives, including owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer, Wednesday night to discuss the team’s vacant head-coaching job, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported, citing unnamed sources.

Wojnarowski added that Rivers talked to Sixers general manager Elton Brand in a virtual session prior to the said meeting whose participants were also said to have watched the NBA Finals Game 1 together.

This recent development came just three days after Rivers announced his departure from the Los Angeles Clippers in what was described as a "mutual decision," per Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.

Rivers was immediately approached by the Sixers and the New Orleans Pelicans as soon as the news of his exit from L.A. surfaced, Marc J. Spears of ESPN’s The Undefeated reported, citing unnamed sources.

On Tuesday's episode of "Get Up," Wojnarowski said that he and Rivers spoke to each other and revealed that the 58-year-old still "wants to coach."

"I communicated with him last night. He still wants to coach," Wojnarowski said of Rivers. "There's certainly some jobs out there available that I think he could have a conversation with if he decides to. Potentially Philadelphia, New Orleans, they're the two best jobs in terms being able to have playoff teams."

“But Philly's pretty far down the road, Mike D'Antoni, Ty Lue, the Clippers assistant," he continued. "New Orleans' search is in a little earlier stage, but Doc's gonna have a lot of options. He can sit back and wait for what feels right to him."

Wojnarowski learned from unnamed sources that Rivers still had two years left in his contract with the Clippers. But after the team blew a 3-1 series lead against the Denver Nuggets in this year's West semis, it had appeared that the dismissal of the champion coach was already imminent.

Interestingly, Clippers assistant coach Ty Lue is also a target of the Sixers, the report added. A lot could change, however, especially with the head coaching spot in L.A. already vacated by Rivers.

Although Lue already had his own meeting with the Sixers owners, Wojnarowski reported, citing an unnamed source, that the ex-Cleveland Cavaliers mentor could be in "a strong position" to get a promotion in Los Angeles.