Colangelo’s Top Priority Is Making Philadelphia Most Desired NBA Team

Jerry Colangelo is a former General Manager, NBA Team Owner, Author, But Most Importantly, He is still a pretty decent guy

He was brought in at the request of owner Josh Harris.  He has ties to the NBA as far back as the as the 1970s when he coached the Phoenix Suns.  He’s a man who has seen it all, and been one of the innovative forces in NBA history.

He has also co-authored a book: How You Play the Game: Lessons for Life from the Billion-Dollar Business of Sports  in 1999 with Len Sherman.   Of course, when Colangelo was hired by the Philadelphia 76ers, he was not brought in to write a book, to GM, nor to take ownership of the team.

The Philadelphia 76ers are doing more than rebuilding a roster.  They are building the premier NBA franchise: with a new training facility, state of the art sports medicine department, sports analytics, and even player development.  But, in the process they have upset the established NBA – players, agents, and executives , from a perception that the teams goals were to simply lose.

That has diminished the team’s chances going forward.  Despite a Taj Mahal facility, and an infrastructure that is second to none in professional sports, the team has gotten more than their fair share of bad press.   Public relations has not been the strong suit of Sixers president and general manager Sam Hinkie.  But PR falls right into Jerry Colangelo’s wheel house.  He’s made it a point to communicate, both sharing what’s going one with his team and, more importantly, listening to what’s wrong with it.

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In fact, early in his NBA career, Colangelo offered a free audience to any season ticket holder of the Phoenix Suns to come speak to him about ways to improve the team.  At that time, there were 4,000 ticket holders.  2,000 took him up on the offer, each getting a 30 minute audience.  that’s 1000 hours of listening to the fans – the ultimate consumer of his team’s product.   This is who the Philadelphia 76ers have brought into the organization.

Before season ticket holders of the Sixers begin preparing their speeches, that is not likely to happen in this Sixers organization.   But what is likely to happen?

We’ve already seen some of the future.  Jerry Colangelo listened to Brett Brown’s request for Mike D’Antoni, and delivered the coach to the Sixers organization in a matter of days.  That ability to deliver what some perceive to be unobtainable resources is precious in today’s world.  But I don’t want to limit your perspective of what Colangelo intends to deliver to this organization.  The story about what Jerry Colangelo can tell us about the Sixer’s trade strategy has been done before.

The first and most immediate task is the evaluation of the team.  Which parts stay, which parts go.  That will be decided by the marquis talent, and then the team will work to surround that player or players with complimentary performers.

"“I’m interested to see how guys play now until the end of the season. People like to talk about here’s the trade deadline. That’s going to come and that’s going to go. We still have to play X number of games before the end of the season. That’s all part of the analysis in terms of what we do relative to the draft, free agency and other options at the end of the year.As you go forward and try to analyze this thing, what’s the best combination? Who complements one another? How do you surround the player? You know you look at Okafor. You look at what he can do and his deficiencies, how do you surround him to protect him? You see how that all plays out. (Discussions with other league executives over the All-Star breat) may lead to nothing. And I think right now, were kind of content to say there are too many question marks about certain players’ health and so forth that you to be very careful. You have to be very selective. Timing is everything.”” – Jerry Colangelo"

After the team settles on it’s cornerstone player, then the goal will be to see who can play with them, whose game elevates in that scheme, and who seems to struggle when on the floor at the same time. While fans and sports writers debate which center will lead the team into the future, the deciders may be wrestling with that same decision. Yes, they are patient now. Yes, the addition of Joel Embiid will certainly need to be factored into the equation. And yes, the team will certainly need to maximize their trade with a willing team, perhaps one who is sitting on a high ceiling back court player, to pull both team into a positive direction.

That’s where Jerry Colangelo will work his magic. Once the team identifies the who, his influence will grant the audience, perhaps even persuade the trading partner into squeezing out a better package in the trade. But which is the right move?

"“For me it’s still too early to see how (Noel or Okafor) plays out. Everyone is optimistic (about Embiid). But we still have to find out whether he can play, will he hold up. So right now, that’s a strength as we relate to the three bigs. But at some point, you have to make a decision on what to do, how to do it. If Nerlens could be a power forward that could be a different story. Right now, his natural position is he’s a center. He’s a rim protector. He is who he is. As you go forward and try to analyze this thing — what the best combination? Who complements one another? How do you surround the player? You look at Okafor, you look at what he can do and his deficiencies. How do you surround him to protect? You see how that all plays out. I’m interested to see how guys play now until the end of the season.” – Jerry Colangelo"

But the message is lost if nobody carries it to the fans.

Good times ahead. We know the 2016 off-season will certainly fall into that category. An NBA draft plus the added bonus of both Dario Saric and Joel Embiid will create a lot of excitement for this team. Enough excitement to attract the attention of some household name NBA free agents? I think it’s conceivable at this point. While it has not been the pattern of the organization so far, neither was trading draft picks for a player. When the sixers dealt two second round picks to the New Orleans Pelicans for Ish Smith, the wind suddenly changed. Colangelo was the Phoenix Sun driving force who traded for then Sixer Charles Barkley. He doesn’t fear the big deal, if he truly believes it will improve his team.

Next: Philadelphia 76ers Insult the League (With Blocks)

But Colangelo does much more before the dealing. He creates a culture… a bright shining “wouldn’t it be nice if I could play there?” sort of team reputation that carries interest towards his team. If he has done his job correctly, players direct their agents to seek him out, to ask if he is interested, not the other way around. He wants to create that sense of pride in the organization that makes it so wonderful that players want to stay and other players want to arrive.

Hope. The message that makes bad times less severe, and good times that much sweeter. Jerry Colangelo understands that message, and is here to deliver it as often as needed.

"“They want hope,” Colangelo said of his time shared with the team’s supporters. “Everybody wants to look forward to the better times that are coming. They will come.”"

I hope he’s right.