When Bryan Colangelo announced to the world that the Philadelphia 76ers needed to deal a center, fans cringed. Now, he realizes that to realize the true value in today’s NBA, he must play his hand as closely as Sam Hinkie once did.
Social Media has turned each of us into a nexus of untold information: some of it good, some of it bad. I recall years ago when international news, national news, local news, sports, and weather was compressed into 30 minutes at either 6 PM or 11 PM. If you wanted more detail on the national or international news front, you remained glued to the television at 6:30 PM.
That was it folks. That was our “window” into information about the world around us.
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The father of Jerry Colangelo grew up in that window. In those days, you were never pre-announced to your peers. You were listed as a photograph and a very standard biography.
Every other fact or impression made about you was that which you created yourself.
Jerry Colangelo mastered the art of impression by learning what to say and how to say it quickly to give that person on the other end of his handshake the information needed to remember his name, and enough facts to record as to why remembering that name was vital to do.
And he shared that knowledge with his son, Bryan Colangelo. And then, the world changed.
Next: Information Overload
Information Overload
Sam Hinkie grew up in a different world. In the world of statistical analysis, numbers, and data maneuvering, there was always an ocean of information lapping each person’s shore lines. Information about who, what, where, when, how, or even why could be obtained at the mere typing of some key search-words into a search engine.
Information was never in short supply. What you planned to do with the information became the most challenging, and value-added, component.
And so, Sam Hinkie did not reveal what he planned to do, out of the belief that others would emulate his strategy and by random chance could arrive there sooner, or more persuasively. Hinkie was an innovator of the use of public domain information. He understood that any bit of information he shared was giving the competition the opportunity to inch closer to his strategy.
So he opted not to do so. Right or wrong, it left many guessing what the strategy was, or even whether it truly existed at all.
Next: Teutonic Plates Collided
Teutonic Plates Collided
When the Philadelphia 76ers ownership determined that the team no longer had a belief in innovating a strategy to succeed in this NBA, they jumped from the new continent under the feet of Sam Hinkie, and onto the continent of the mainstream NBA.
And then the Teutonic Plates Collided.
No, we know what happened to Sam Hinkie. This collision involved the “sell it in the first five minutes” strategy to the “mums the word” reality.
A lesson we are now learning.
The initial interviews of Bryan Colangelo were ill-timed. While it was admirable of the new President of Basketball Operations of the Philadelphia 76ers to voluntarily offer to speak into an open microphone, the time needed to understand the complexities of the current team roster, the series of intricate moves which got us here, which have taken place this year, and which will take place in the future.
And so, he gave nothing away, but in the process he gave it all away. He made harmless observations about the team he was just introduced to. The observations were innocuous, harmless banter which any front office NBA type might make. But this was now coming from the front office of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Next: Somebody Turn That Mike Off!
Somebody Turn The Mike Off!
Two seasoned and respected NBA executives. Two statements. Paired together, they told 29 NBA teams what they wanted to know. “What will the Philadelphia 76ers do this off-season?”
The statements were these:
"We are generally dealing with underdeveloped players, both physically and emotionally, and the more opportunity for them to grow and develop as young men and as basketball players will benefit both the evaluator and the athlete alike.” – Bryan Colangelo"
but the more damning of the messages was that delivered by his father Jerry:
"“The reality is, and I’ve come to understand this, that Sam has really done a great job of accumulating assets,” Colangelo said. “If you look at the trades, you look at the draft picks that’ve been accumulated, it’s all there in place. Now it’s a matter of when do you pull the trigger on using all those assets, or any of those assets. So as I look at the board, if you will, I see some things that could happen sooner rather than later. That’s because if somebody gets healthy, if the player from Europe comes in and is part of the rotation, and we will have a very high draft pick and then using some of those assets to do other things to consider, be it free agency, be it a trade, whatever, this thing could flip a lot sooner than people understand.”"
Apart they are harmless. Together, they told me a great deal. They conveyed the perception that the Philadelphia 76ers were a very young team with a series of value draft picks to add valuable young talent to this roster. And it also shared that the new front office did not value youth on an NBA roster.
It told the rest of the NBA “fire sale”. For three years, Sam Hinkie’s patient approach to rebuilding the Philadelphia 76ers had held the rest ot the NBA’s feet to the fire. Hinkie could deal, and dealt he did. Few got the better of Sam Hinkie when negotiating a trade.
And now, the tables were turned, and the rest of the NBA were ready for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Next: The Myth
The Myth
The Philadelphia 76ers have a front court logjam. Do you consider that a (A) fact, a (B) perception, or a (C) myth? If you answered A or B, you have failed this quiz and must now take remedial lessons by rereading the article on the topic Philadelphia 76ers Front Court Logjam Myth.
We’ve talked about this logjam for years, but the reality is that Joel Embiid has been off the basketball court these past two years, Nerlens Noel was out his first year and has just two years of NBA experience, and Jahlil Okafor was injured and sat out the end of his one and only season in the NBA. As I pointed out in that article:
"53 games out of a total of 246 games is just 21.544715447% of the games folks. Stare at this monster and understand what it truly is – just a boogie man fictionalized by media to give conflict to the team."
So the team must somehow learn to fit three big men into the space of 48 game minutes. But that’s not the whole story.
Toss the conventional $20 Million / year salary presumptions out the window folks. This is the Philadelphia 76ers. We have 3 “star” centers, and of the three only Nerlens Noel has played a full 82 game season.
The Phoenix Suns boast Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, Devin Booker, Archie Goodwin, Sonny Weems, John Jenkins and have just drafted Tyler Ulis to cover two guard positions.
The Atlanta Hawks had Jeffrey Teague and Dennis Schroder for the 2013-2016 seasons, two of the three season boasting two starting point guards on one roster.
NBA teams WANT to have starting caliber players on the bench. Many cannot afford them. Right now, the Philadelphia 76ers can afford to have all three centers on this roster.
Next: Learning opportunity
Learning opportunity
And so, the NBA waited for the Philadelphia 76ers to come a’calling. The same “NBA Executives” who were embarrassed by the Philadelphia 76ers in trade scenarios suddenly upped the price of their former offers.
The heads-up Nerlens Noel for Jeff Teague trade which had been the discussion during the season, suddenly went up to Nerlens Noel, Robert Covington, and Nik Stauskas for Jeff Teague. Afterwards, it was reported that Jeff Teague had played through a torn Patellar tendon. This was the same player the Atlanta Hawks seriously upped the price on?
Not to be outdone, Danny Ainge, general manager of the Boston Celtics, leaked that he had offered the Brooklyn Nets 2016 NBA draft pick to the Philadelphia 76ers at the 2016 trade deadline for the services of center Jahlil Okafor. This was a pick that had a good chance of ending up either number one or two in the draft. It ended up as the third overall pick of the draft.
When the Philadelphia 76ers approached the Boston Celtics to revisit that deal, suddenly the price on that exchange had gone up significantly as well. It was reported that the Celtics demanded Jahlil Okafor PLUS the 2017 first round draft pick of the Los Angeles Lakers (top three protected).
"“Basically, it came down to some of the deals that were on the table weren’t deals that we would pursue because we didn’t feel comfortable,” Colangelo said following Friday’s news conference to introduce Simmons in Philadelphia. “We didn’t feel like they were equitable for the organization. You want to move on in the right direction with those measured steps we talk about. Some of those would’ve been stepping outside of that.” Bryan Colangelo as interviewed by Tom Moore of BucksCountyCourierTimes.com"
Thankfully, Bryan Colangelo saw through the shenanigans and decided to stand firm on the Philadelphia 76ers current roster.
Next: Fire Extinguisher
Fire Extinguisher
The 2016 NBA trade deadline had a number of “close calls” where the Philadelphia 76ers were “THIS CLOSE” to executing a major trade. The 2016 off-season had a cornucopia of trades investigated by the Philadelphia 76ers, but for each discussion, the terms were not such that had much value for the 76ers to pursue.
The fire sale tempo burned itself out.
But so many look at this Philadelphia 76ers roster and see the 2015-2016 team. It’s not. So many expect that without the influx of numerous top tier veterans, the team hasn’t a chance of succeeding. It does. So many see the need to move one of our young players out that they fail to see what could happen if we … do nothing.
We saw this coming folks. We sounded the alarms in our narratives. We advised that the Philadelphia 76ers should not discount their triad at the NBA center position.
We warned about trying to accelerate the timetable too rapidly. You cannot harvest crops until the grow.
In this context, the team needs to pause a moment. If nothing else, simply for the sake of measuring twice and cutting once. NBA teams try to walk out of deals with greater value than going into one. That’s what the Philadelphia 76ers need to understand.
Next: Sanity Check
Sanity Check
Head coach Brett Brown does not get enough credit for this team. It was Brett Brown who, when afforded the opportunity to speak to Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com, warned of the strategy of “reckless speed”.
"“I feel the partnership that I can grow with Bryan (Colangelo) is real, I see it, when I talk to him its a very comfortable easy conversation and there are shared interests in how you grow a winning program without compromising reckless speed. It’s still a challenge to growing it in that capacity”- Brett Brown as interviewed on CSNPHILLY.com by Jessica Camerato"
And that was the splash of cold water the front office needed. It was this which had to be said, which we were saying all along, and which fans of the Philadelphia 76ers were resonating. Finally, the message made it to the top.
"“Keep in mind we’re still dealing with the unknown of Joel’s situation, health-wise. That really goes for every player. You’ve got to be concerned sometimes about how you plan around healthy players and then if someone becomes injured, how you react to it accordingly. But right now we’ve got a lot of talent. We’re top-heavy. It’s something we still certainly look to address. Some of it will happen naturally and some of it may require some movement on our part for us to decide which direction we should go. But if you can shift asset value to other positions on the roster, that would certainly be a leg up toward that roster balance that we talk about.” – Bryan Colangelo in an interview with Tom Moore"
Jurisprudence. Right now, the fragility of the Philadelphia 76ers demands that the front office takes very cautious steps.
Next: Cohesion, then Completion
Cohesion, then Completion
Don’t skip a step. So many are trying to jump from accumulating the pieces to a championship team to the final steps of completing the puzzle. But the most tedious, and most important step, is cohesion.
Right now, this Philadelphia 76ers team needs cohesion. Adding veterans simply speeds up the step, but neither eliminates it, nor raises the outcome.
Players who arrived to an NBA team are rookies. Overwhelmed by the game around them, by the sheer fame and notoriety of the center stage. In the game of NBA basketball, young men must focus inwards, to develop their own skill-sets to effectively compete. The next step is assembling complementary pieces to optimize the best team of the roster. That is not five scorers. That is not a post center, a perimeter shooting small forward, and a lightning fast point guard with laser-guided passing either. It’s the best five man lineup. That lineup is the group of men who are the most effective as a group.
We’ve guessed at what the Philadelphia 76ers roster might become, what the starting lineup might look like if Dario Saric elects to join this team. It’s pretty intimidating.
The Philadelphia 76ers may need to move Ben Simmons to point guard of necessity. Necessity is the mother of invention. This is the Tall Ball we’ve been drooling about for months!
Ben Simmons on why he's different: "Being a 6-10 PG I’m able to push the ball up the court & start breaks a lot quicker than most big guys."
— Jessica Camerato (@JessicaCamerato) June 24, 2016
If the team can ease Ben Simmons into the 6’10” point guard role which so many scoffed prior to his arrival, then the team could get a center and power forward out of Okafor and Embiid. Saric slides to small forward. Covington goes shooting guard.
The bench of the Sixers loads up with Landry, Noel, Grant, Stauskas, Thompson, Canaan, and McConnell.
Next: Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid Stand Tall In NBA
While the roster will take a month or so to truly hit on all cylinders, it’s got the makings of something quite special. And not a single free agent or trade needed.