Jerry Colangelo Networks For Philadelphia 76ers Every Day

Winding Down, To Wind It Back Up

What remains to the season is for existing players to showcase their skills to build the argument to remain on the team roster next year, or at a minimum to build a market for their skills if the business side of the basketball world leaves them looking for a new opportunity. The entire time, the team is logging, filming, charting, analyzing, and deciding who and where to go with the roster next season.

Meanwhile, in the back office, the team is working at a fever pace now. It is the closing weeks that solidifies the direction a team wants to take in the off-season. In most cases, the team will only have one shot to get it right. While college scouts turn towards the teams competing in the NCAA tournament, professional scouts turn their eyes to the playoff teams. While all of this is happening, the data is accumulated, fed into computer algorithms, and charted. From there, information is analyzed, dissected, compiled, broken down and recompiled. When the data has been looked at from as many angles as possible, the priority is determined – whether by draft board, free agent priority, or trade hierarchy.

And then, the team waits for the moment to bring all of the planning and analyzing together.

The reason?  The Sixers are working against the clock, an artificial timetable of Jerry Colangelo’s making.  You see, Colangelo stated unhesitatingly that the team will be very competitive in three years.  Not just making the playoffs, but winning playoff games.  Was this foolish?  Not exactly.  It was a wise statement to make – to assure potential free agents that the team plans to not only to compete, but to succeed.  The statement also sets the teams scouting on task to focus on shorter term results now.   Development will now slide to the back seat as true and present production steps up to become a higher priority.  It also sets the stage for the draft to emphasize NBA ready talent, and forego the wounded high ceiling prospects who have almost certainly fallen onto our roster in the past. The draft with multiple first round selections will now focus on the readiness of the prospects.

Next: 5 Reasons Not To Be Worried About The Philadelphia 76ers

But while the draft is a given of research and opportunity, the system of free agency and even to a smaller extent trading with another NBA team is all about relationships. Who knows who? Who likes the reputation of whom? Which team must pay a premium, whereas another team can offer less to make the deal happen. That’s what the name of the game is, and that’s the realm of Jerry Colangelo.  It’s that culture of “positivity“, that assembly of good people to work with and work for, that is crucial right now for the team.  Jerry Colangelo is a deal maker from the old school NBA textbook. A handshake, a given word, and the deal is made. From that point on, Colangelo is available to trouble shoot, help, and even offer words of wisdom to his players.

That won’t differ in Philly. The only difference is that the Philadelphia 76ers are an organization designed to give professional athletes longevity, maximum production, and healthy minds and bodies, during their time with the team.  On top of all of this is the construction of the state of the art training facility, and you’ve laid the foundation for the best logistics in the NBA.  No one item will sell the team to NBA players, but the presence of so much coming together to create the ultimate professional experience for a player will create incredible selling points.

And Jerry Colangelo can sell.