How the Sixers’ Newest Front Office Hire Tommy Balcetis Can Elevate Them

The Sixers have made one more addition before the offseason ends—this time in their front office.

Philadelphia hired Tommy Balcetis as head of basketball intelligence, analytics and innovation, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported Sunday. Balcetis, 40, spent 12 seasons with the Denver Nuggets, most recently as their assistant general manager in 2025.

The Nuggets have put out some of the NBA's most well-oiled offenses in the 2020s.

I'll have to do my homework, but this seems like a good hire for the Sixers, especially with so many moving parts offensively. https://t.co/q6J0UO2uuq
— Jacob Moreno (@jacob_moreno_) August 16, 2026

Based on public information, the Sixers did not have anyone in this position, before nor did they part with anyone to bring in Balcetis.

This role will seemingly require Balcetis to do a bit of everything, like diving into numbers and film at a sophisticated level and sharing interesting data, analysis or game plans throughout the organization.

On Balcetis

Balcetis’ resumé shows he is ready to embrace the position.

Three years after graduating from Harvard in 2010, he joined the Nuggets as manager of basketball analytics, then was promoted to director of basketball analytics in July 2015. Tim Connelly, Denver’s former lead executive, initially hired him in July 2013 as the Nuggets shifted into a soft rebuild.

During that period, Denver drafted Nikola Jokić 41st overall in 2014.

Remember when Nikola Jokic was drafted during a Taco Bell commercial 😅pic.twitter.com/tJ6uDaCauE
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) May 23, 2023

Balcetis continued to climb the ranks, becoming vice president of strategy and analytics from 2018-2020 and then assistant GM spanning from 2020-25. The Nuggets placed seventh or higher in offensive rating leaguewide during his tenure as assistant GM, according to Basketball Reference. While that is mostly a reflection of Jokić’s greatness, Balcetis played a role in giving him a roster to succeed.

The Athletic even named Balcetis on its “40 Under 40” list of rising front-office executives in 2022. His Nuggets stint ended following the 2024-25 season, however, as Denver did not renew his contract after it parted with shot-caller Calvin Booth.

Since then, Balcetis has been a board member for multiple overseas clubs, including the BC London Lions and BC Zalgiris Kaunas.

What to expect

Balcetis’ calling card is analytics despite having limited knowledge of basketball numbers originally. He used his experience of working with data at Fidelity Investments to help him understand and display data in an aesthetically pleasing way through PowerPoints and Excel sheets.

As he climbed the ladder, he also took more responsibility managing the salary cap and scouting, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.

Needless to say, the Sixers are getting a versatile, young executive who can help them in many ways. His eye for talent and salary-cap experience could be useful for a team that has one two-way contract spot left as well as a standard roster spot while only $1.83 million shy of the first apron.

New: The Sixers have a two-way contract slot open. For now, I am told, they plan to leave it open heading into training camp.

Explaining the strategy as I understand it, a new face in the front office and more covered in this week’s 5 Sixers thoughts: https://t.co/xnSp2U6qGf
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) August 17, 2026

Balcetis’ knack for analytics was on display when the Nuggets’ offense devastated the NBA en route to a title in 2022-23. Denver’s offense is built on Jokić’s playmaking, fast tempo and constant activity off the ball—all things that would benefit Philadelphia’s offense.

Balcetis’ arrival is well-timed for a Sixers team that must figure out a way to maximize Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James and Joel Embiid.

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