Colangelo says Sixers' fortunes can "flip" sooner than expected

In early December, the 76ers shockingly announced the arrival of Jerry Colangelo as chairman of basketball operations. While many assume that means he is taking over for general manager Sam Hinkie, both, along with head coach Brett Brown, have said the effort moving forward is going to be collaborative.

That might be true, but it seems as if things have been happening more since Colangelo's hire on Dec. 7. There have been the hiring of associate head coach Mike D'Antoni, the trade that brought in point guard Ish Smith, the release of Tony Wroten and the signing of veteran forward Elton Brand, a move made mainly for Brand to be a guide for young bigs Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor and injured Joel Embiid. All the while, Colangelo has been at his home in Phoenix, with constant contact with Brown and Hinkie.

Colangelo has done just about everything in his close to 50 years in the league, and you just got the feeling from the time of his hiring that he wasn't going to proceed at the slow pace that Hinkie was comfortable with. His words Wednesday saddled those beliefs.

"I've learned a lot in just a few weeks here," said Colangelo, who said he met with team owners earlier this week. "I think we've done some tweaking. If you'll recall at the press conference, I said there may be some things that you could do of an immediate nature that could be helpful and beneficial. But as far as the plan, whatever the people think the plan is, nothing is changing in terms of a course.

"The reality is, and I've come to understand this, Sam has done a really great job of accumulating assets. If you look at the trades, if you look the draft picks that have been accumulated, it's all there in place. And now it's a matter of when do you pull the trigger on using all those assets or any of those assets. As I look at the board, if you will, I see some things that could happen sooner rather than later.

"That's because if somebody gets healthy (Embiid). If the player from Europe comes in (Dario Saric) and is part of the rotation and we will have a very high draft pick. Then using some of those assets to do other things to consider, be it free agency, be it a trade, whatever. This thing could flip a lot sooner than people understand. I think that this is not a situation of when are we going to come out of this or when are we going to be able to compete -- I think that could be sooner rather than later."

As Colangelo spoke, Embiid worked on some post moves and outside shooting at a basket with some coaches, looking very good as he slowly progresses from the surgery he had on his foot in August. It was kind of ironic that the two things were happening at the same time.

"I think we're all trying to find the rhythm," Hinkie said. "I've been out to Phoenix a good bit and he's been here on occasion as well and caught up with our team on the road. If anything, I'm a learner so I've asked a whole bunch of questions, which has been fun.

"It's been fun to have an outside perspective. We've had many hours where we've got to sit together and talk about where we've been, where we are, the difference in perception and reality and where we're going and how his lessons can help us with where we're going."