76ers' coaching search going slowly

It's been three weeks since the 76ers hired Sam Hinkie as president of basketball operations and general manager, and things have been unusually quiet for a team that has yet to hire a coach with less than one month remaining before the NBA draft.

The Sixers are one of six teams looking for a coach, the other vacancies being in Brooklyn, Milwaukee, Sacramento, Detroit, and Los Angeles (the Clippers). Depending on what happens in Memphis, where former Sixers guard Lionel Hollins' future is unknown despite his leading the Grizzlies to the Western Conference finals, that number could grow.

Coaches in whom the Sixers were believed to be interested have been hired in Cleveland (Mike Brown), Atlanta (Mike Budenholzer), and Phoenix (Jeff Hornacek). Sixers associate head coach Michael Curry, who has been endorsed by players Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner, has emerged as a candidate in Milwaukee, where it was recently reported that he had an interview. Curry has yet to interview for the Sixers, who, according to sources, have yet to interview a candidate for the job.

Despite the activity of other teams and the approaching June 27 draft, Hinkie, who according to sources spent the Memorial Day weekend in Houston with his family, spent much of last week continuing the process of familiarizing himself with team personnel.

He is also believed to have overseen the only workout to date of potential draftees - last Friday - conducted by the Sixers. The workout didn't include any prospects the Sixers might consider selecting with the 11th pick in the draft. The most notable participant was Davidson's Jake Cohen, a 6-foot-10 senior from Conestoga High School who averaged a team-high 14.9 points and 5.3 rebounds as a senior.

According to sources, the Sixers are expected to begin working out players in earnest either late this week or early next week in preparation for the draft.