Does Bryan Colangelo have a case for Executive of the Year?

A few Philadelphia 76ers players are up for awards. The coach is getting Coach of the Year buzz. Should GM Bryan Colangelo be in contention for Executive of the Year?

As the Philadelphia 76ers reach the tail end of a spectacular season, a few players are in contention for end-of-season awards. Christopher Kline recently looked into where Sixers players stand in the Defensive Player of the Year race. Ben Simmons should win Rookie of the Year, and Brett Brown should be in the running for Coach of the Year.

On Friday morning, notorious Hinkie-hater and TV grouch Marcus Hayes let the world know he thinks Sixers’ GM Bryan Colangelo is the NBA Executive of the Year.

Twitter was quick to jump on Hayes’ take. Many pointed out the Bayless signing and the talent inherited from Sam Hinkie as knocks against Colangelo’s case. But the Sixers are having their best season in years, and Colangelo deserves some of the credit. To find out how much credit, let’s evaluate and grade his most significant moves since taking control.

Drafted Ben Simmons 1st overall

In May 2016, the ping pong balls landed in the Sixers’ favor, and they came out of the draft lottery with the first pick. Colangelo had just joined the team, and he wasn’t the one that put the Sixers in position to have the best odds in the lottery. But he does deserve credit for making the pick.

Despite some people making a case for selecting Brandon Ingram, the Sixers took Ben Simmons. Simmons has been far and away the best player from the 2016 draft class, and it’s now clear that Colangelo made the right choice.

Grade: A

Drafted Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot 24th overall and Furkan Korkmaz 26th overall

Despite talks about packaging 24 and 26 to move up in the draft, the Sixers stayed put and drafted Luwawu and Korkmaz.

Luwawu struggled throughout most of his rookie season but showed great flashes toward the end of the year. This year, he’s once again been mostly not good. He had a midseason stretch when he scored in double figures in four consecutive games, but he hasn’t even played since March 11. He hasn’t done much to show he’ll contribute at all down the road.

Korkmaz spent last year overseas, and he’s been injured most of this season. While it’s way too early to write him off, he still hasn’t made any impact or given any reason to believe he’ll ever be more than an decent shooter off the bench. There were better players on the board, like Dejounte Murray, who the Sixers passed on.

Grade: C

Signed Gerald Henderson for 2 years / $18 million

The Sixers signed Henderson to be a veteran contributor, but he struggled to live up to expectations in his one season with the team. In 23 minutes per game, Henderson totaled just 9.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. The Sixers waived Henderson with a year left on his deal, and he hasn’t played at all this season.

Grade: C-

Signed Sergio Rodriguez for 1 year / $8 million

Rodriguez was given a one-year deal to hold the Sixers over at the point guard position. He started in 30 games and averaged 5.1 assists next to just 1.9 turnovers. He also gave the fanbase a magnificent passing display after an era filled with raw athleticism but little basketball I.Q. For his one year with the team, Rodriguez was fun to watch and a valued veteran presence.

Grade: B-

Signed Jerryd Bayless for 3 years / $27 million

As noted earlier, Bayless has been used as an argument against Bryan Colangelo winning Executive of the Year. Bayless missed all but three games with a wrist injury in his first season, and he’s struggled mightily this year. He hasn’t seen game action since Feb. 9, but he’s still under contract for almost $9 million next season.

Not only has Bayless not played well or often, but he hurts the team’s flexibility this offseason. If the Sixers want to rid themselves of his contract to pursue free agents, they’ll likely have to attach their own first round draft pick in a trade. When Colangelo locked up Bayless for three seasons, he definitely did not have the longest view in the room.

Grade: F

Traded Jerami Grant for Ersan Ilyasova and the Thunder’s 2020 1st round pick (top-20 protected)

Jerami Grant was a fun role player in his time with the Sixers, but this trade made sense. Ilyasova, despite being frustrating at times, was an important contributor on an improved Sixers team last season.

Although he was traded again before the end of February, his previous experience in Philadelphia probably helped the team bring him back after he was bought out from the Hawks. Throw in the protected first and this was a good deal for the Sixers.

Grade: B+

Traded Nerlens Noel for Justin Anderson, Andrew Bogut, and the Mavericks’ second round pick in 2017 and 2020

Nerlens Noel was finally getting a chance to show how valuable he could be when the Sixers traded him. Bogut was waived immediately, and Anderson has gotten little playing time off the Sixers’ bench. All the more frustrating was the Sixers playing the trade off as if they got back a first round pick, even though there was no chance Dallas would win enough games for the pick to convey with a top-18 protection.

The only redeeming part of this trade is that Noel hasn’t had any success since being shipped to Dallas. He’s played just 30 games this year, averaging 4.4 points. He was criticized for eating a hotdog at halftime of a game in which he saw no action, and he’s been suspended for the last five games of the year after testing positive for marijuana.

Grade: D

Traded the 3rd overall pick and a protected first round pick for the 1st overall pick.

As the details of the trade came out, they kept getting better and better. Originally, it seemed the Sixers would be sending Boston both the Lakers’ 2018 and Kings’ 2019 unprotected firsts, in addition to the third overall. But Adrian Wojnarowski later clarified the Sixers would only be sending one of the Lakers’ and Kings’ picks, and neither would be conveyed if it was first overall.

The trade wasn’t a huge price to pay for the Sixers to move up and snag their favorite player in the draft. The Lakers pick is unlikely to convey this year because it should fall outside the 2-6 range, so the Sixers will probably surrender the Kings’ unprotected first round pick next year, assuming it isn’t first overall.

Grade: A

Related Story: Fultz will (still) be really good

Drafted Markelle Fultz 1st overall

A lot of people would call this pick incomplete. I’m not going to do that. Even though he hasn’t played in many games, we’ve seen enough of Fultz to grade this pick. He missed almost all year with a mysterious shoulder injury, and he’s shown his jumper to be a work in progress since his return.

Even so, Fultz’s tremendous passing, body control, and length are all reasons to be confident in his potential. I would argue that if the Sixers had a do-over in the draft, they should still take Fultz. Although his rookie season didn’t go as planned, the Sixers should be glad they have Markelle Fultz going forward.

Grade: B+

Signed J.J. Redick for 1 year / $23 million

Redick seemed to be the perfect player to fill the Sixers three-point shooting void. He got off to a good-not-great start, but he’s been fantastic as of late. A big upside to his contract is that it’s only one year, so the team can still pursue a big-name player in the offseason.

You could make the case that the Sixers should’ve looked into signing someone like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a young 3-and-D wing who the Lakers brought in on a lucrative one-year deal. But Redick has been exactly what the Sixers needed, and if they can get him back next year on a less expensive deal then this contract would look even better.

Grade: A

Signed Amir Johnson for 1 year / $11 million

Johnson has been pretty solid this year, and he’s provided good defense at center when Joel Embiid isn’t in the game. Again, with just a one-year contract, Johnson doesn’t get in the way of the Sixers’ long term plans.

Other than good bench play, Johnson’s snail-paced release on his three point shot has given us this great tweet:

Grade: B

Signed Joel Embiid to a 5 year / $146.5 million contract extension

Extending Embiid was an absolute no-brainer, but this was still an important move for the Sixers. The deal included injury protection for the worst-case scenario, and it solidified Embiid as part of the Sixers’ future. Embiid deserved a max extension, and he got one.

Grade: A

Signed Robert Covington to a 4 year / $62 million contract extension

Robert Covington is a solid three-point shooter and the Sixers’ best perimeter defender. With free agency approaching, locking him up long term was essential, and the Sixers did just that. With a front loaded contract, the Sixers will pay Covington more now and less in the future, allowing the team to have more cap space to sign free agents this summer.

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Grade: A

Traded Jahlil Okafor, Nik Stauskas, and a 2018 second round pick for Trevor Booker

It was only a matter of time before the disgruntled Okafor got moved, but there was hope the Sixers could get more in return. The worst part of the deal, though, is that the team gave up a second round pick and only got Booker in return, who they later cut to make room for Ilyasova. Other than finally moving on from Okafor, there weren’t any positives to this deal.

Grade: D+

Signed Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova for the rest of the season

The Sixers’ bench had struggled to put up any points all season. It could be argued that Colangelo could be to blame for this for failing to sign quality bench players in previous offseasons. But by bringing in Belinelli and Ilyasova, the weak bench became a strength, and these two players are major contributors on the team’s current hot stretch.

Grade: A-

Verdict

Colangelo deserves credit for not messing up what Hinkie had in place and more credit for bringing in quality pieces around the team’s core.

A relevant knock against Colangelo is his poor communication with the press, especially involving injuries, but most of his moves have worked out well.

Taking into account all of the moves we’ve just considered, Colangelo’s GPA is a 2.8. That’s bad for a business major, decent for an engineering major, and above average for an NBA Executive. But while Colangelo has done a good job, he hasn’t done quite enough to put himself in the Executive of the Year race.

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