New Sixers GM intends to speed up the process

IT IS TIME to put aside the talk of nepotism and leaked emails. Forget, if you can - and really, you must - if Sam Hinkie was forced out or bailed on the 76ers. The process, moving forward, will no longer require capital letters as the unofficial name of the rebuilding plan.

If anything was clear Sunday when the team introduced Bryan Colangelo as president of basketball operations, it was that the future is different now, what's past is past and, while appreciative of the unprecedented work by Hinkie over the past three years, it is time to move on in a speedier fashion toward the goal of championship contention.

The move comes after then president and general manager Hinkie resigned via a rambling, 13-page email sent to ownership and then chairman of basketball operations Jerry Colangelo, father of Bryan. The team also announced Sunday that Jerry Colangelo has moved to an adviser role with the team.

"Our goal is to build an elite team that will compete at a high level on a consistent basis," Harris said in his opening remarks. "Even as our organization evolves, that strategy remains the same as we move forward. I want to thank Sam Hinkie for his contributions for the last three years and, without question, he has positioned us well for the future with a roster of young and developing talent, cap space and a significant amount of draft picks. I'm sorry that he's leaving.

"This is an exciting step forward for our organization and our fans who we sincerely thank and deeply appreciate. I want them to know that we will continue to work tirelessly to build something that we can all be proud of."

The aversion to winning seemingly is over. Colangelo, who said he will be adding more people to the front office in time, isn't one to have the long-term lens that his predecessor used. Whether he parlays the wonderful hand that he's been dealt by Hinkie into a successful roster in the near future remains to be seen.

"This is one of the most exciting jobs, I believe, that is out there right now," Colangelo said. "It's a situation where, obviously, Sam Hinkie has done a nice job of establishing the assets and resources to move forward in a positive way. I'm sorry that Sam will not be a part of that. It was intended all along that he would. The fact that we're moving forward, onward and upward, we're all excited about the transition that's happening now. With regard to that future, I want to be clear that this is not a departure from a process, a departure from a strategy. This is a moving forward with everything that's already been established, everything that's already in place. We're going to be measured in our continued building of this organization. It's going to be an exciting process moving forward. But there's a lot to aim for."

If there appears to be a look of relief on the face of coach Brett Brown, you're not fooled. Though he and Hinkie were constant in their conversations about how the franchise was moving forward, it was Brown who had to endure the here and now while his general manager was looking past all the losing. There appears to be immediacy to winning, which Colangelo thinks will breed more winning and an atmosphere and culture conducive to moving forward.

"Bryan's reputation and strength, and it's proven, is he digs in," Brown said. "He grabs something by the throat and figures it out. Sam wasn't like that. Sam was more longest lens in the room, as he has said. The wish was to combine the two of them. Sam didn't want to do that. Because of our situation of multiple draft picks, determination that free agents are now a part of our psyche, part of our business plan, part of our version of rebuild because we have acquired resources over the years, that proactive approach was going to be there, with Sam and now with Bryan.

"As an organization we had arrived at a level. I think that Bryan's past, his successful past and the reputation that he has on grabbing something by the throat, collided with the timeline of where we are and that notion that we are going to move quick, we understand. Responsible growth is still at the forefront of every discussion that we have."

Yes, but Brown has to be thrilled that the light at the end of the longest tunnel in NBA history is finally coming into squinting view. Now it is incumbent upon him, and especially Colangelo, to do what's right in order to make Hinkie's tear-down worthwhile.

"There's definitely a timeline in place and without being specific, I've outlined for ownership what I see as being realistic," Colangelo said. "Again, we will not abandon what is already in place in terms of the strategy. We won't rush into anything. We will be very measured in the next wave of additions.

"I really want to make sure everyone understands that this is a transition from this measured rebuilding process to sustainable winning. That's what is important to establish here. We will be pragmatic. We will be utilizing these tools and resources. You can only have so many developing players on your roster at a certain time, so there may be some decision to defer some of those. There may be a decision to package some of those things for players that make sense and fit our strategy.

"One thing that's probably unspoken yet is, I need to sit down with the basketball staff. I need to sit down with Brett Brown. We need to talk about what the identity is and where we want to be as a basketball team. Not just involved in this process that we continue to talk about. It's about putting a basketball team together. It talks about chemistry. It talks about talent. It talks about all the things that go into that. Nothing will be abandoned as far as the collective intelligence that's in this organization. If there is one thing this organization has is brain power."

It lost some of that when Hinkie hit the send button on Thursday, but he did so knowing he left the organization in an envious place. Bryan Colangelo has reaped those benefits. Now it's up to him how the legacy of Sam Hinkie plays out.

@BobCooney76

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