Wake Up With The Sixer Sense — Ownership Changes?

The Philadelphia 76ers have been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately. From Jahlil Okafor getting in street fights to the Sixers seemingly undermining the process, hints didn’t get much better when it was reported that co-owner Josh Harris was looking to sell the team. The Sixers are not in an ideal situation.

Here’s all the morning news you need to know.

76ers Co-Owners Reportedly Looking To Sell Franchise — Forbes

"The two just became major investors in the Crystal Palace Football Club in London and their strategy is simple: According to a business associate of Blitzer, it’s to “get to know the market,’’ as they get a footing in London and see how things operate there for their bid to land an NFL expansion team in London. The NFL plays regular-season games in London, with the Jacksonville Jaguars using Wembley Stadium as their home away from home. If the NFL expands across the pond, the Jaguars are seen as the leaders to land there. They’ve played games in London since 2013 and recently reached an agreement to play once a season there through 2020. But Harris and Blitzer are going to try to be the ones to bring the NFL to London and join the Kroenke family (St. Louis Rams, Denver Nuggets), fellow billionaire Paul Allen (Seattle Seahawks, Portland Trail Blazers) and Tom Benson (New Orleans Saints and Pelicans) as owners of teams in both professional sports. The Kroenkes also own Arsenal FC of the Premier League."

It sounds like the Philadelphia 76ers are done tanking — Business Insider

"As mentioned, the 76ers are still a long way from finishing their rebuild. While they have some nice, young players in Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel, Robert Covington, Nik Stauskas, and Joel Embiid, if he can get healthy, it’s not clear if there’s a permanent building block in the bunch. The 76ers could end up with several draft picks this year, but those picks haven’t conveyed yet, and the 76ers would still need to draft the right players. There’s a belief that Colangelo was brought in to help the 76ers in the free-agent market because of his connections across the league. That could help, but it’s fair to wonder if free agents would be willing to join the Sixers before there’s proof that a turnaround is on the way. Some might, but the team may have trouble recruiting actual productive players that can quicken the rebuild. Nonetheless, reports indicate that the 76ers’ most radical part of the rebuild is over. While Hinkie did manage to get a few talented players and set the table for more, ultimately, his idea and execution were too lengthy to see through."

Nobody in NBA expects Sam Hinkie to still run 76ers over Colangelo — NBCSports

"Colangelo has always been very involved in anything he has done. So, it’s easy to see him demanding final authority over basketball operations before taking this job. But he’s also 76. He might not want the same heavy responsibilities he had when he was younger. I’m also not convinced the 76ers are fully aware how power will be divided. As Colangelo said, the team first contacted him fairly recently. There might not be a clear plan in place (though there obviously should have been before finalizing a hire of this magnitude). Berger also reports neither NBA commissioner Adam Silver nor other NBA owners were as involved in getting Colangelo to Philadelphia as initially reported. Harris asked Silver for advice, so Silver provided a list of potential hires with Colangelo at the top, according to Berger. Silver spoke briefly with Colangelo, introduced him to Harris and then let Harris and Colangelo handle it from there, Berger writes. And that might be the case. But it’s also might be the smoothing of a messy story. Silver and other owners meddling into the 76ers’ affairs isn’t the best look. This telling could minimize the damage."