Phoenix Phenom Bryan Colangelo soared and crashed at Toronto Raptors
Bryan Colangelo is an accomplished NBA executive and the son of an accomplished NBA executive. Much of the Colangelo magic however, sits in the region near the Painted Desert. You see, the duo were linked to the Phoenix Suns from 1968 – when Jerry Colangelo was hired as the first General Manager of the expansion team Phoenix Suns until February 27, 2006, when his son Bryan resigned as President of the Phoenix Suns. Over the span of 38 years, the Colangelo name was lauded and respected.
So too did the the younger Colangelo carry a wave of success to the Toronto Raptors franchise in 2006. Once there, he immediately began to work on the 27-55 team roster, improving them to the point where they clinched the Atlantic division for the first time in their young history. In order to do that, Colangelo churned over the roster, when he brought in nine new players to the Toronto Raptors’ roster. Of the 2005-2006 roster, he kept PF Chris Bosh, PG Darrick Martin, PG Jose Calderon, SG Morris Peterson, and SF Joey Graham. The rest of the team were new faces.
The subsequent roster of the Toronto Raptors did very well in the 2006-2007 season, but the goodwill of the team did not last long. Head coach Sam Mitchell won NBA coach of the year for piloting the Colangelo staffed team to the playoffs. But some 20 months later, when the team fell back down to the ground (as often is the case to the win now teams), Bryan Colangelo gave Sam Mitchell his walking papers.
The reports at that time were varied, but one particularly insightful discussion by Brian Boacke, senior editor of Raptors Rapture, is worth noting:
"“I don’t know if Sam was seen as a motivator by Bryan Colangelo, who took over after Babcock was canned in January, 2006. Nor did the young players make great strides under Sam. However, I should point out that none of Babcock’s kids have done much in their careers elsewhere, so I don’t think Sam should be held to account too much. I suspect Sam knew he was done after Babcock’s firing, or would be as soon as the team slumped. When the Raptors got off to an 8-9 start in the 2008-2009 season that was sufficient excuse for Colangelo to drop the hammer on Sam and bring in “his” guy. I simply think Sam had run out of steam. He had done well considering the unstable rosters and front office turmoil he was forced to live with, but a page needed to be turned.I don’t think Sam performed any miracles, nor did he “lose the room” or have his teams underachieve due to poor preparation or other factors. Sam did as well as could be expected with the resources at hand. If a player hustled, he would be rewarded. I don’t recall Sam having disputes in the press with any players.The roster was very unsettled, and there were a LOT of players who came and went in short order. Other than Chris Bosh, [T.J.] Ford and [Jose] Calderon, no player at that time really had the credentials to complain about minutes. [Andrea] Bargnani had to play as the #1 overall [pick in the 2006 NBA draft], and the new GM’s pet project.Other kids who needed to be seen included P.J. Tucker (Colangelo drafted him, then dumped him too soon – now he’s helping the Suns) and Joey Graham, another “athlete” who couldn’t make the transition to effective pro ball player. There were a bunch of guys on the tail end of their careers (Rasho Nesterovic and Morris Peterson, for example). We had no meat in the sandwich."
In that transition, the Toronto Raptors turned to assistant head coach Jay Triano. They did not appear in a playoff game for Colangelo afterwards.
There are some curious parallels in the Raptors and the Sixers programs. On both teams, the head coach is a first timer, but is strong in player development and in motivation. In both cases, the head coach was given an arduous task to find wins with a less than potent roster. On both teams Bryan Colangelo has been brought in to replace the former GM, while he has endorsed the head coach hired by his predecessor. Finally, in both cases, the teams are expected to have huge roster turnovers.
More from History
- Philadelphia 76ers: Top 10 Sixers busts since 2000
- Philadelphia 76ers Ten Biggest Mistakes of the Last Ten Years
- Philadelphia 76ers: Best trade in team history with Washington Wizards
- 6 Worst Philadelphia 76ers starters of the Allen Iverson era
- Are 76ers using page from past for ‘Twin Towers’ lineup
When Bryan Colangelo arrived in Toronto, he did bring wins to the city, and for a city hungry for some success, that may have been enough. At 27-55 in the 2005-2006 season, the following year they jumped to 47-35 (but they did get the first draft pick and selected Italian 7’0″ center Andrea Bargnani). The Raptors would squeeze into the playoffs the following year, finishing at 41-41, but would fall out the following year at 33-49, and then to 40-42, to 22-60, and 23-43 and finally to 34-48.
If the goal is to get wins, for one season Bryan Colangelo certainly delivered all that and far more. But examining the roster he built for the 2006-2007 Toronto Raptors – power forward Chris Bosh was a Raptor entering his fourth season, and was the cornerstone. Point guard T.J. Ford was entering his third season, having spent the previous two with the Milwaukee Bucks. Shooting guard Anthony Parker was entering his fourth year and exploded onto the scene for the Raptors, tripling his minutes while he averaged 12.4 PPG, shooting 44.1% from beyond the arc, rookie center Bargnani scored a respectable 11.6 ppg in his rookie season, while shooting guard Juan Dixon played just one season for the Raptors, his sixth year in the NBA, and added 11.1 PPG.
It was a roster built for the short term. It was enough to pop the Toronto Raptors into the NBA playoff club, but they faded nearly as quickly as they came. The team did not have enough depth, enough strategy. It was built to make some noise, and it did. But the Raptors fell silent far too quickly for a team chasing success. It’s trajectory acted more like a firework than a rising sun.
Next: Philadelphia 76ers Young Players At Money Risk
It’s not difficult to guess a similar path awaits the Philadelphia 76ers, and that there will be a large number of player transactions in the weeks ahead. If the roster turned over so greatly in Toronto, I would expect at least the similar number of changes to be made in the 76ers roster as well. Whether we retain the true diamonds of our roster remains to be seen, but the team is certainly on a course of rapid change. Wins will come. Championships will likely be as elusive as ever.