Philadelphia 76ers Are Now Phoenix Suns II

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Dec 7, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers owner Joshua Harris (L) introduces Jerry Colangelo (R) as special advisor before a game against the San Antonio Spurs at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

Smiling faces, smiling faces…

And so, the patient “have faith” guiding hand of executive Jerry Colangelo proved to have no faith at all. The man who has a reputation of seeing it all and having been there done that swept in within four months and directed the team to… hire his son, Bryan Colangelo, as a general manager.

Sixers issuing statement soon on Hinkie resignation, with Bryan Colangelo on his way into his third GM job in league, sources say.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 7, 2016

And so, just as was once the case in the the yesteryear of the Phoenix Suns run from the 2003-2006 era, the triad of Mike D’Antoni, Bryan Colangelo, and Jerry Colangelo have replaced Sam Hinkie’s , who was on the verge of realizing his vision for the team. But as so many science fiction story plots reveal, when there are assets to use, trust flies out the window. The hinted at clues had been coming all along. Jerry Colangelo did not balk in the commentary that the Philadelphia 76ers did not have enough “basketball minds”.

More from Sixers News

Now the debate will rage. Can the performance of president and general manager Sam Hinkie truly be judged on the win loss record of this team? I don’t think so, because so many events which occurred time and time again fell the wrong way for the team. Not one first round protected pick conveyed in the 2015 NBA draft. Joel Embiid required an additional year of rehab. The simplistic conclusion is that the Philadelphia 76ers tanked one year too long. But the true answer is that the Philadelphia 76ers are positioned to improve rapidly going forward.

And when it comes to sharing the credit for the improvement, it seems that the Colangelo family feels that it’s best to keep it all in the family.

The ironic thing is the #sixers just hired a replacement for Sam Hinkie who has ... admitted to tanking.
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) April 7, 2016

Next: Where do we go from here?