If Bryan Colangelo is fired, how will his Sixers’ tenure be remembered?
So, what is the conclusion about Colangelo's tenure? Like his off-the-court troubles, it's hard to say. We have to wait to see how everything plays out.
It's not news anymore that Bryan Colangelo is in jeopardy of losing his job as the 76ers' president of basketball operations.
The team said it is investigating a report by The Ringer, a sports and pop culture website, that Colangelo allegedly is connected to anonymous Twitter accounts that revealed sensitive team information and criticized players and coach Brett Brown. Sixers fans and the NBA in general await the team's decision on whether they will stand by Colangelo or move on without him. No timetable for that decision has been announced.
If Colangelo does not return, how will his tenure be judged? It's not an easy answer.
Colangelo was hired by the Sixers on April 10, 2016, the day of the final home game of a season that ended with a 10-72 record. Now, two seasons later, and under Colangelo's watch, the Sixers finished 52-30 with a third-place finish in the Eastern Conference and a playoff berth.
But some critics never warmed to Colangelo. There was something about his father, Jerry Colangelo, being the team's chairman of basketball operations when Bryan was hired that tainted his addition to the team.
>>READ MORE: Guilty or not, perception matters for Bryan Colangelo and the Sixers
For some critics, Bryan Colangelo's hiring had more to do with nepotism than being a two-time NBA executive of the year. They saw him benefiting from the groundwork laid by Sam Hinkie, the previous team president and general manager who resigned four days before Colangelo's official hiring.
But Colangelo made some solid decisions.
Colangelo’s highlights
The absolute best decision Colangelo made was drafting Ben Simmons first overall in the 2016 draft. That seems like a no-brainer now because Simmons is not just one of the league's elite young stars but a transcendent player as a 6-foot-10, 240-pound point guard. Meanwhile, Brandon Ingram, the other top player the Sixers could have drafted No. 1, has been a solid player for the Lakers, but he's nowhere near the superstar-caliber player that Simmons is.
Leading up to the draft, however, there was an intense debate over whether Simmons or Ingram would be the best fit for the Sixers.
Fans of Simmons called him the second coming of LeBron James heading into his one-and-done season at Louisiana State. When Simmons' lack of a jump shot became evident, and he didn't play as hard as some expected, question arose over how reliable he would be in the NBA.
As for Ingram, who was a long, athletic small forward and a solid shooter at Duke, he was seen as the better fit for a Sixers squad in desperate need of another shooter. At 6-9, the one-and-done Blue Devil was expected to create matchup problems on the perimeter, and no one argued that he wasn't a success story as a college player. Simmons, on the other hand, had underachieved.
But Colangelo made the right decision.
His decisions this past February to sign free agents Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova, albeit at the request of Brown, were also good moves.
The Sixers signed Belinelli on Feb. 12, three days after his contract was bought out by the Atlanta Hawks. Colangelo then added Ilyasova on Feb. 28, two days after he, too, was bought out by the Hawks. With the addtion of Ilyasova, the Sixers went 20-3 the rest of the regular season, which included winning their final 16 games, setting an NBA record for season-ending victories.
Colangelo’s mistakes
Colangelo caught a lot of heat for not getting equal value in return for trades involving Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor. His main problem before the deals were eventually completed was that every NBA executive knew that he would have to unload the two young centers from his overcrowded front court. As a result, the other execs balked at giving equal value in return.
So, Colangelo shipped Noel to the Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 23, 2017, in exchange for Justin Anderson, Andrew Bogut, and two second-round picks. Bogut never played for the Sixers. Anderson is a solid defender, improved three-point shooter and gritty player. But those attributes didn't keep him from being buried on the bench in the second-round playoff series against Boston as Brown preferred to give Belinelli extended minutes.
Colangelo sent Okafor, Nik Stauskas and a 2018 second-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets on Dec. 7, 2017, to acquire Trevor Booker, who was in the final year of his contract. The Sixers touted the power forward as a key to the team's making a playoff push. But, unhappy with his role, Booker asked to be released two months later upon learning the Sixers were going to sign Ilyasova.
So, the Sixers gave up two assets and a second-round draft pick for a two-month rental.
Still, the most controversial move made by Colangelo was moving up two spots in last year's draft.
At first, Colangelo was praised for going from No. 3 in the draft to No. 1 in the draft to select Markelle Fultz. The Sixers acquired the pick from the Celtics in exchange for the Sixers' No. 3 pick and a 2019 protected pick. Boston ended up taking Jayson Tatum third.
Now, Colangelo is being criticized harshly because Fultz missed 68 regular-season games after a mixture of reported shoulder issues and trouble relearning his jump shot. Tatum, on the other hand, developed into one of the league's young stars and helped the Celtics reach the Eastern Conference finals.
Based on Fultz's inactively, it's hard to accurately judge the trade. That hasn't stopped critics, such as Julius Erving, from saying that Tatum — not Fultz — would have been the better first pick.
So, what is the conclusion when it comes to evaluating Colangelo's tenure?
Like his off-the-court troubles, it's hard to say. We have to wait and see how everything plays out.