As the dust settles on Daryl Morey's exit and Bob Myers' subsequent appointment to temporary president of basketball operations, four candidates have emerged for the Sixers' next lead decision-making position.Going by reporting from the fine folks at The Stein Line, lead executive with the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury Nick U'Ren and Oklahoma City Thunder executive Vince Rozman are two names in Philadelphia's pool.This writer is of the belief that the Sixers have chased the flashiest names for far too long, proudly boasting a who's who of executives, coaches and players. But when you chase the premier names, you are inherently pursuing people who have done the job for a while. As such, it is time for some fresh blood. Fresh ideas. New passion and hunger.Myers appears headed in that direction, which has to mean there isn't much known about the prospective options. The flip side of chasing those fresher names is that you're not going to earn much fan excitement fantasizing about the future with unrecognizable faces manning the ship.So what does the fan need to know about U'Ren and Rozman?Nick U'RenOne of the biggest criticisms of Philadelphia's long-held belief in Morey was that he had no championship equity to justify what many perceived as a long leash. Yet, there isn't a great deal of local optimism that Myers is the one in charge, at least for the time being. Perhaps that is because many perceive Myers as having inherited the core of the Golden State Warriors' dynasty and simply tying up some loose ends before squandering a pair of lottery picks that would've kept Stephen Curry firmly in contention in the twilight of his career.If that is you, you want someone with Myers' résumé while also feeling strongly that that person contributed to what the Warriors became at their peak. I do think there is a bit of validity to the claim that Myers was given the keys to a Lamborghini. But his reputation is excellent. So if you respect Myers, perhaps Nick U'Ren can interest you.U'Ren is credited for proposing that Steve Kerr bench Andrew Bogut in favor of Andre Iguodala in the 2015 Finals. The adjustment helped spark three consecutive wins to clinch the championship for the Warriors. Success followed him when he departed the Warriors for the WNBA, serving as the general manager to turn the Mercury from a last-place team to a Finals team by his second season with the franchise.The uncanny resemblance his philosophies bear to Myers' sticks out. Check out this interview he did with a fintech executive last year. Compare it to the Sixers' end-of-season media availability with Josh Harris and Myers.The things U'Ren preaches—such as humility in opinion-driven spaces, approach to risk-taking and investing in people and culture—are identical to the things Myers discussed. It's not a surprise at all, given that U'Ren is something of a protege to Myers. U'Ren makes a very interesting candidate because he was there to witness the Warriors' heyday and then validated Myers' method of leadership when he left the organization. Vince RozmanYou've probably heard by now that Rozman was a long-time survivor of organizational turnover with the Sixers until he left to be the Thunder vice president of identification and intelligence. That is a fancy-schmancy way of saying he works in scouting. One of Rozman's final acts with the Sixers was advocating heavily for Isaiah Joe, who Philadelphia drafted and eventually waived. Joe was, of course, immediately picked up by Rozman's Thunder and has since blossomed into an elite shooter off of Oklahoma City's bench.He should be of particular interest for several reasons. One, he has seen the Thunder rebuild that machine from the ground up. Rozman has thus helped cultivate one of the league's deepest teams. The Sixers, by contrast, are paying out three max contracts. One is likely unmovable for the foreseeable future and, to be completely honest, is more valuable to the Sixers than he would be to any other team. Another may be movable in the not-too-distant future, should Philadelphia opt for that. The third has his flaws but has earned the cachet to be an unquestionable franchise cornerstone going forward.The point is, the Sixers, under the current collective bargaining agreement, have a lot of work to do on the margins with not-so-many resources to do it. I think back to something Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault told me when his team visited Philadelphia during the wretched 2024-25 season—"We don't discriminate when it comes to developing a player."That has to mean that they take players of all shapes and sizes, skill sets and shortcomings and mold the team around them. They don't marry themselves to a way of doing things and pursue players who exclusively fit that model. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is an enormous part of Oklahoma City's success. As are Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams. But the only way for a small-market team to support those tentpoles is to win on the margins time and time again.As Philadelphia enters a transitional era between a pair of veteran stars and a pair of young stars, having someone like Rozman call the shots may be the best thing for the Sixers' future.Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on X and Bluesky for the latest news.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow