The Sixers have a busy and important offseason ahead of them. The team is armed with a wealth of salary cap flexibility as well as the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, and Bryan Colangelo, the team’s new president of basketball operations, will be the man tasked with restoring basketball in Philadelphia to its once former greatness. The executive discussed a number of topics with Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com recently, and while the entire interview is most definitely worth a read, here are some of the highlights:
On the likelihood of trading Nerlens Noel or Jahlil Okafor:
“I don’t know that there’s a likelihood. I can’t put a number on it. I would just simply tell you that there’s been conversations and there’s been a lot of interest expressed in some of the players that we have, but nothing that’s made enough sense to pull the trigger on. We’ve talked about the five position in particular.”
On the possibility of dealing away the No. 1 overall pick this June:
“It hasn’t been in any realistic conversation. There’s been a few people that have inquired. As I’ve said before, you never say never in this business. But I would still say it’s highly unlikely that the pick is in play in a deal, given the nature of this draft. I’ve always said you never say never, but I can’t imagine a deal coming forward that would stop us from making that selection. What’s probably more in play is the 24th and 26th pick, which kind of ties into the notion that we’ve got a fairly young team. We want to pick up the pace with regards to the winning aspect of basketball games. What we’d like to do is find a way to best utilize those picks to help us achieve that goal. If it happens that we use both and select, it’s probably going to be because we didn’t have a good alternative in terms of a deal or we felt those players could help us get where we wanted to go.”
On deciding between Ben Simmons (LSU) and Brandon Ingram (Duke) for the top pick:
“You can make an argument either way that Brandon Ingram would fit well and that Ben Simmons would fit well. That’s the discussion. Those are the conversations that we’re having to try to determine not just which player will ultimately have the better career and achieve a higher status, but which player is the best fit as well. It’s a combination of things for us. When you look at both it’s pretty hard to imagine that either one would be a wrong choice. It’s a good position to be in. I can’t tell you that as we sit here on June 10th that a decision’s been made by anybody. We may be leaning one direction or another. But it’s safer to say that you don’t have to make a decision until the 23rd.”
On draft-and-stash pick Dario Saric, who was recently scouted by the front office:
“He really showed his full repertoire, everything from some post moves and some good interior passing to an improved shot.The perimeter shot looks like it’s really coming. He’s got a full range of ball skills and passing skills. I think his game will definitely translate to the NBA in a positive way. The timing of him coming to the NBA is still in question. I believe there’s a desire on both sides to make it happen sooner rather than later, but at the same time, the contract scenario, economics, etc., etc. all plays a part in that decision making. We’ll know soon enough whether it’s going to happen for this particular season. That’s our goal and our desire. I think in the next few weeks we’ll have more clarity.”
On the possibility that center Joel Embiid will play in the Summer League:
“People are just looking for a timeline. There’s no timeline. But until I hear a doctor tell me ‘No summer league,’ I will always say anything’s open. But the likelihood of him playing summer league is nil. I would only say that because of where he is in the progression right now. But if he makes enough progress and the doctors say he’s ready to go there’s no reason he shouldn’t. But having said that, I would say it’s a 99% chance, maybe a 100% chance, that he’s not going to play. We just don’t want to put him in a situation where he hasn’t been playing competitive basketball. We probably want to ease into that and that would mean sometime after summer league. But if he is going to come into training camp you want him to have at least a little bit of flow and a little bit of rhythm and to be in a position where he could have tested the foot to the extent that he’s ultimately going to be exposed in a training-camp environment.”
As expected, the Sixers opened this year’s draft by taking LSU’s Ben Simmons. The 6’10” Australian native, who has been the consensus No. 1 choice since the beginning of the college season, averaged 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists during his lone season with the Tigers.