Philadelphia 76ers: Colangelo Has a Tendency to Go After Big Names

Philadelphia 76ers general manager Bryan Colangelo has a tendency to go after big-name veterans around the NBA that may be out of his league. It forces other teams to overpay.

Bryan Colangelo was said to be vastly different than former Philadelphia 76ers president Sam Hinkie when he was brought on with the team. What we’ve seen so far, however, has indicated otherwise.

Hinkie was known for being a general manager that sort of got in the way of other GMs doing their jobs to the best of their ability. He had some negative relationships because of his deals that would be good for the Sixers and no one else. He would take advantage of teams in bad situations and make the best of it for the Sixers’ future.

Colangelo doesn’t do things that exactly mirror Hinkie (yet, anyway, we’ll see how his first season goes) but some of the things he does are a bit reminiscent of the style of Hinkie as far as pushing other GMs’ buttons.

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Early on in free agency, when the Sixers were trying to pull in free agents to make their team more cohesive moving forward, one of the players they targeted heavily was Manu Ginobili, who head coach Brett Brown worked with while he was with the San Antonio Spurs.

Ginobili has spent his entire career with the Spurs, and is nearing the end of his career without a doubt. He’s surely past his prime, which indicates that he should be getting something in the ballpark of the veteran minimum from the Spurs.

That was not the case, however. Fans were surprised to hear that Ginobili got himself a $14 million dollar, one-year contract. It was a curious case, and the Spurs didn’t look too smart for paying him that much. Why would they? Well, Bryan Colangelo made them.

Colangelo saw a possibility with Ginobili. He still could come in and play, and being a veteran player with lots of knowledge, he could also guide the young players. Since the Sixers have so much money, paying Manu that much was no problem.

The Spurs were not going to pay that much if they didn’t have to. The offer from the Sixers was the main reason that Manu got a big payday from the Spurs.

Then, just this week, Colangelo forced the Cleveland Cavaliers to do something they had been putting off for a very long time — paying J.R. Smith.

It was a bit of a surprise to everyone to learn the reason why the deal with Smith — which nears $50 million over the course of four seasons — finally got done was because the Sixers and Colangelo pushed for Smith to come on and join their team. It looks like it may have been a bluff, however, as Jake Fischer pointed out that Colangelo values relationships and that Smith’s agent is the same as Ben Simmons‘.

This move helps the agent. Colangelo forced the Cavs to overpay, which leads to a pay increase for the agent, and therefore may lead the agent to want to work closer with Colangelo in future years. That means it should be easier for the Sixers to bring Simmons back when his contract is up.

Next: The Goat and the Croat

Watch out, everybody. If you leave your veterans out for too long, Bryan Colangelo and the Sixers may just come to grab them.

Bryan Colangelo Will Try to Steal Your Leftovers if You Leave Them Out

By Josh Wilson | Oct 15, 2016

Philadelphia 76ers general manager Bryan Colangelo has a tendency to go after big-name veterans around the NBA that may be out of his league. It forces other teams to overpay.

More from The Sixer Sense