Sixers owner: Jerry Colangelo was not involved in hiring of son Bryan as president
The Philadelphia 76ers made it official and named Bryan Colangelo as President of Basketball Operations, the team announced on Sunday via an official release.
But since we've known that was coming for a few days now, that wasn't the interesting part.
"As part of the transition, Jerry Colangelo will relinquish the role of Chairman of Basketball Operations and remains as a special advisor to Managing Partner Josh Harris," the team said.
Jerry Colangelo was brought in to start steering the organization in a positive direction back in December, and the fact that he's now stepping down after Sam Hinkie resigned and his son has been installed says plenty about the organization's lack of direction, and level of dysfunction.
During Sunday's press conference introducing Bryan, Harris spent a lot of time defending the decision, and the team touted his qualifications in the bulk of the release.
"Colangelo most recently served as President and General Manager of the Toronto Raptors from 2006 to 2013," the statement said. "In his first full season at the helm of the Raptors (2006-07), the team saw a 20-win improvement from the previous year and tied a then franchise-high with 47 wins. Colangelo was named 2007 NBA Executive of the Year."
"All told, his teams have appeared in the NBA Playoffs 11 times and have captured four division championships in his 18 seasons as a general manager."
Hinkie and The Process weren't necessarily to blame for the team's troubles all by themselves. But one major factor in Hinkie's demise was his lack of relationships with those in front offices around the league, which limited opportunities for impactful trades. And the culture of losing (or perhaps more accurately, the perception of tanking) was one that free agents wanted no part of, and one that made agents leery of the entire situation.
It can be argued that Hinkie won the bulk of the trades he made, and his draft record won't be able to be accurately judged for years to come. But the culture shift and the relationship-building pieces can begin to change immediately, which could ulimately send the franchise more quickly in a positive direction.
But there's no denying that the way it all played out seems a bit shady for those viewing things from the outside.
