Seth Vigdor
The Sixers recently introduced Bryan Colangelo as their new General Manager. With the upcoming season being essentially a make or break one as it pertains to the Sixers being a winning team in the near future, there are many questions that need to be answered. Colangelo recently addressed a lot of those questions that are up in the air about the team.
With Dario Saric apparently telling teammates he’s Philly-bound next season, Sam Hinkie’s plan is getting closer and closer to fruition. Sure, he won’t be around to see it, but it’s not like we don’t know who made all the moves. If Colangelo can be like Pat Gillick was for the Phillies after Ed Wade was fired, then the Sixers have a very bright future ahead.
Sixers beat writer Tom Moore had a pretty lengthy phone conversation with the Sixers’ general manager, and they covered many topics. Here are some of the highlights via The Burlington County Times:
On the possibility of Joel Embiid playing in the Summer League:
It’s an evolving process. We hope to get to the point where we get him healthy, ready and prepared to play basketball. At some point, people will be very happy to see him in a uniform.I do not want to try to speed that up. I can tell you he’s been handled the right way, based on what I can tell. It seems like he’s moving in the right direction every day. The good news is he’s in Philadelphia and we can have daily contact. He’s got a very regimented, planned-out schedule.”
On the compatibility of Embiid, Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor playing together:
There is some difficulty there. We’re not sure what to expect. Also there’s the topic of compatibility of parts. The question is how have Nerlens (Noel) and Jahlil (Okafor) meshed so far? We’ve thought about how it might look with Joel (in the mix).”
On free agency:
A team in our situation probably needs to be willing to overpay. There’s a line you have to draw. Assess where you are and do basketball evaluations if a guy comes and justify it, analytically. A lot of things go into the selection of a player you sign as a free agent. If it means we overpay, maybe we go on a shorter term for higher dollars. One thing we don’t want is to be locked in to mediocrity.”
From what I’m hearing, it sounds like Colangelo is thinking honestly and the way that a lot of fans are thinking on some of these topics. Among those, are the compatibility of Embiid, Noel and Okafor. I’ve said from day one that if Embiid comes back healthy and can prove that he can stay healthy, either Noel or Okafor will be outtttta here, like the great Harry Kalas would say. This team isn’t built to hold all three of those players.
Regardless, I’m excited to see what the future holds for this team.