So after evaluating the Process to date and seeing that there is some light at the end of tunnel, it's time to look at the Colangelo choice.
I think this was done for a couple reasons.
(1) lack of accountability of players after Okafor situation and rumors of Noel and Embiid fines
(2) "star" young guys getting special treatment
(3) tone deaf, slow handling of Okafor situation
(4) Hinkie leaving Brett Brown out to dry
(5) team looking like a trash fire this year that may not win 5 games
What will Colangelo bring?
(1) an end to secrecy or at least a more candid franchise
(2) perhaps a free agent vet or two to mentor the kids
(3) some knowledge on creating a basketball TEAM
Is Hinkie out?
This could be Step One of that. I agree that Colangelo hiring is an indictment of Hinkie's slow-moving plan to date and the fact that Hinkie completely left his young studs out to dry this year with such a threadbare team.
I think moreso than indicting the plan, Colangelo is an indictment of Hinkie's DECISION MAKING. If you're gonna bank on the draft, you're looking at OKC as your model and they made amazing picks. Many, many teams have followed similar strategies and there's only one OKC--but many Sacramentos, Clippers, etc. Hinkie's 2014 Draft MAY turn out to be a success but so far it looks like Embiid pick was a big mistake. His 2015 Draft leaves why no Mudiay or Porzingis an open question. And his 2013 Draft failed to bring in Giannis or Gobert and left us with the degrading Noel and the gone MCW.
Hinkie's picks--for all their volume--have strangely been SAFE. Okafor over Porzingis and Mudiay. Noel and MCW as best-player-available picks. Embiid over other players less valued by the consensus. All of these big guys could be said to be guys that "coulda been number one picks if not for..." But these guys all had injury or style red flags. True, Embiid pick was risky--as was Saric--but these were consensus best-player-available picks. No thinking outside the box for an Aaron Gordon or Mario Hezonja or Bruno Caboclo or Kristaps Porzingis.
Further, three Big Man drafts have boxed Hinkie in. He traded MCW at the height of his worth but now he has 3 bigs (at least) and he needs to trade one or more and their value is going down due to injury or bad fit or bad play. This forces you to take a PG or wing in 2016 and NOT best-player-available.
Does Colangelo help the situation?
In Decision Making? Perhaps. In Free Agents? Maybe. In Short Term? I guess so. In Long Term? Who knows?
3 comments:
This is an NBA hire. The NBA is losing the Philly sports market. Colangelo has been hired to bring back some level of credibility to the organization so the Sixers can eventually compete again and win back the disheartened fan base. The Sixers are an embarrassment especially to the players in the league. Hinkie is seen as a joke. Nobody wants to play in Philly.
And it extends beyond the Philly market...
"Since the summer of 2014, NBA owners have been lobbying the league's front office to step in with regard to the direction of the Philadelphia 76ers, sources told ESPN.com on Monday night. It was that effort that helped lead to the hiring of Jerry Colangelo to a senior position earlier Monday, the sources said.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver was instrumental in forming the partnership between Colangelo and 76ers owner Joshua Harris, according to the sources.
Owners routinely complained about the economic drag the 76ers were inflicting on the league as the revenues of one of the largest-market teams -- a franchise expected to contribute more robustly to league revenue-sharing -- sagged. For many teams, games featuring the starless and woeful 76ers as the visiting team have been the lowest-attended of the season, sources said."
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