Free Agency – Can Colangelo Bring FAs to Philadelphia 76ers

In Part 2 of a 3 Part Series, We Examine Free Agency Moves of Bryan Colangelo

The story of how we got here is conflicting and full of inconsistencies. The Philadelphia 76ers ended up hiring Bryan Colangelo as President of Basketball Operations in the end, but that was not the goal of the team initially. When the team sought “sage counsel” from NBA commissioner Adam Silver, they were looking specifically for an Advisor, not an Executive.

"“Bryan Colangelo, who of course has ultimately ended up as president of basketball operations for the 76ers, was someone at the time that Josh excluded as a possibility because it was clear that Bryan was looking for a full-time job as the head of basketball for one of our teams,” Silver said. “So in essence, the 76ers ended up with Jerry because Bryan was not an option at the time.”"

So, Bryan Colangelo was not an original option for the Philadelphia 76ers, because he wanted a full time job in charge of an NBA team. Initially, the 76ers wanted someone to come onboard and advise them. So, Adam Silver said, he connected them with Bryan Colangelo’s father Jerry.

"“His getting directly involved with the 76ers was in part due to my reaching out to Jerry,” Silver said. “Not because it was necessarily my idea that the 76ers needed an adviser. But once Josh Harris, the principal governor of the 76ers, said he would like to have a sounding board, someone with league experience, I was the one who connected him with Jerry Colangelo”"

History

Now this is all history, but it’s important to grasp the fact that the team did NOT originally seek a replacement for Hinkie, but simply some way to gauge him, govern him, to effectively make his methods more “NBA friendly” to the remainder of the league. But from the moment he arrived, Jerry Colangelo stressed the importance of a “basketball mind”. But what is that exactly, and how does that enhance the chances of a championship.

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Well, let’s start with a basketball mind. Basketball Mind is that pedigree of competitive basketball athletics from the collegiate, pro, or international level, that other executives believe is required in order to enter the club of NBA executive. Much like registering a pure bred dog with the American Kennel Club (AKC), the inclusion in a group of “basketball minds” indicates that you have been a player of the sport at a college or higher level.

I Am Sam, Sam I Am

We know that former team executive, Sam Hinkie, was not a member of that distinguished club, and was therefore never truly appreciated for the contributions he had made to the Sixers by evaluator Jerry Colangelo.  But there was more of an incentive for Jerry Colangelo to give two thumbs down to anything happening in Philadelphia.  You see, his son Bryan Colangelo was looking for full time NBA employment, and had just been passed over for a similar position with the New Jersey Nets.

We’ll never know what the future might have held for the Philadelphia 76ers.  It was clear that the team was well positioned to do well in the 2016 NBA draft no matter who ran the team.  Likely the current roster is more at risk of a major overhaul now than had Hinkie remained.  But the team pulled the trigger and made the move to subjugate Hinkie to the newly arriving Bryan Colangelo.  Why? What could Bryan Colangelo deliver to the Philadelphia 76ers which Sam Hinkie could not?

An NBA pedigree.  In part one, we examined the trade track record of the Bryan Colangelo Era with the Toronto Raptors.  In this article, we unveil his free agency activities while with the Raptors.

Next: Colangelo Track Record