The Sixers fell to the Bucks by one point last night in their final home game of the season, but the big news from Sunday was the team introducing its new President of Basketball Operations, Bryan Colangelo. Most recently the President and General Manager of the Toronto Raptors from 2006-2013, Colangelo has led his teams to 11 playoff appearances and four division championships over his 18 years in the league. He said during his introductory press conference that the Sixers job was one of the most attractive ones in the NBA.
“This may be one of the best jobs in basketball right now,” Colangelo said at a press conference Sunday afternoon. "Given all the things that have been established over the last three years, given the draft picks that are in place, given the cap flexibility, given the fact that ownership is committed. It’s a tremendous sports town with passionate fans. We’re going to embrace that passion.” [CSNPhilly.com]
Bryan's arrival also meant something for his father Jerry. Brought in at the beginning of December, Jerry Colangelo has relinquished his role as Chairman of Basketball Operations and will serve as an advisor to team owner Josh Harris.
"Jerry, truthfully, to be fair to Bryan and to be fair to himself and to be fair to us, recused himself from the entire process," Harris said. "He wasn’t involved. I think that he was on board for the approach, but he wasn’t involved with it."
“I understand the optics of it, but the reality is Bryan was head and shoulders above every other candidate,” Harris said. “But the reality is, I went with Bryan because he was the best guy for the job." [CSNPhilly.com]
One of the most confusing parts of this whole Hinkie resignation and Colangelo hiring is that the Sixers, both Josh Harris and now Bryan Colangelo, expected Sam to go along with all of this and be a part of the organization going forward. The Sixers hired Jerry in December and then had been reportedly scouting Bryan for quite some time. Wouldn't these moves give you a little bit of insecurity if you were Sam Hinkie? Josh Harris fumbled with an answer to the question of whether or not it seemed like the Sixers pushed Sam Hinkie out the door. Luckily, Bryan Colangelo stepped in, reiterating the fact that Sam was intended to be a part of this all along.
“My predecessor, Sam Hinkie, has done a nice job of establishing the assets and resources to move forward in a positive way,” said Colangelo, who has spoken with Hinkie since his resignation. “I’m sorry that Sam will not be a part of that. It was intended all along that he would.” [CSNPhilly.com]
Josh Harris brought Sam Hinkie in to rebuild the team and gain assets, which he did. He urged patience with the fans and with management about Hinkie's process time and time again, but clearly there was some heat felt in year three. A lot of front office members were unhappy with the speed of the process, so Jerry Colangelo was hired and now Bryan is here with Sam Hinkie having resigned. What won't change here is the goal of the process, to create sustainable winning in Philadelphia.
“I just want to be very clear that this is not about a departure from a process, a departure from a strategy,” Colangelo said. “This is a moving forward with everything that’s already been established, everything that’s in place, and we’re going to be measured in our continued building of this organization.”
“This is a transition from this measured rebuilding process to sustainable winning,” Colangelo said. “That’s what’s important to establish here. We will be pragmatic, we will be utilizing the tools and resources. You can only have so many developing players on your roster at a time, so there may be some decision to defer some of those to future years and there may be a decision to package some of those things to acquire players that make sense and fit our strategy.” [CSNPhilly.com]
The Sixers have two more games this week on the road to conclude their season. They'll tip-off at 7:30 on Tuesday against the Toronto Raptors before the season final at 8PM on Wednesday in Chicago against the Bulls.
