In the era of the 24-hour news cycle, it's hard for NBA teams to truly surprise us in 2015, but the Philadelphia 76ers did so Monday by naming legendary executive Jerry Colangelo their chairman of basketball operations and a special advisor to ownership.
Coming on the heels of an 0-18 start that has raised renewed questions about the Sixers' rebuilding process, the arrival of Colangelo will have important implications for the organization and its current architect, president of basketball operations and general manager Sam Hinkie. We just don't know exactly what those implications will be.
Here are three possible scenarios for what Colangelo's presence could mean.
Scenario 1: The public face of the process
The lack of a spokesperson to explain what the organization is attempting to do has been an issue for Philadelphia. Hinkie is by nature disinclined to seek the spotlight, a trait that has made it easier for critics to portray him as a calculating villain seeking to pull one over on the 76ers' players and the rest of the league.
Persistent reports featuring anonymous sources have also painted Hinkie's relationship with player agents and other teams as problematic, as ESPN.com's Zach Lowe noted last week.
"The easiest thing to do in the NBA right now is find someone, usually an agent or an executive from another team, ready with anonymous rip job of Philly," wrote Lowe.
Enter Colangelo, the 76-year-old basketball power broker who has amassed strong relationships throughout his four-plus decades with the Phoenix Suns along with his current roles as managing director of the USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team and chairman of the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.
"As long as I'm involved, I will be available to the media," Colangelo told reporters during the news conference announcing his new role with the Sixers. His arrival immediately changes the narrative about Philadelphia's direction and also strengthens ties with agents.
Colangelo's reputation and experience can help the Philadelphia organization, even if he does not take a large role in the team's day-to-day operations. Taking such a role would be challenging, given that he intends to maintain his residence in Phoenix and his other basketball commitments.
Such an advisory role would be consistent with the collaborative decision-making process Colangelo and co-managing owner Josh Harris outlined at Monday's news conference. The model might be Jerry West's role with the Golden State Warriors.
West, 77, like Colangelo an accomplished executive in his 70s, is one of many voices in Golden State's front office as a consultant. Instead of undermining Warriors GM Bob Myers, West's presence has strengthened the organization, and Myers won NBA executive of the year last season for his role in building the 2014-15 league champions.
In terms of on-court style, there should be a solid amount of overlap between the vision Hinkie and head coach Brett Brown have expressed for the Sixers and Colangelo's favored style of play. Remember that Colangelo also deserves credit for opening up NBA offenses by leading the charge to crack down on hand-checking on the perimeter in his role as head of the NBA's rules committee, changes that helped facilitate the 3-heavy, up-tempo style of play Hinkie and his former Houston Rockets boss Daryl Morey have embraced.
Scenario 2: The takeover
It's certainly possible Colangelo's arrival is the beginning of the end of Hinkie's tenure with the 76ers. While ownership backed his plan to strip down the team of its veteran assets in favor of building through the draft, frustration with the lack of progress over the last two seasons is understandable. At this point, all Philadelphia has to show for two seasons in the depths of the lottery are question marks.
And while the on-court philosophies might mesh, it's less clear that Colangelo's vision of how to build a team fits with the so-called "process" the Sixers have employed. Under Colangelo's stewardship, the Suns excelled at rebuilding without spending long periods out of contention.
Between 1975-76 and Colangelo selling his ownership stake to Robert Sarver in 2004 (he remained chairman until 2012, though he was not heavily involved in basketball decisions at the end of his tenure), Phoenix went more than one season out of the playoffs just once: 1985-86 through 1987-88. Only in the Suns' inaugural campaign as an expansion team did they lose as many games as Philadelphia has each of the last two seasons.
On Monday, Colangelo did highlight one place where he and Hinkie might not see eye to eye: the need for veteran leadership on a young roster. The Sixers have prioritized searching for cheap, young contributors over filling out the roster with mentors. Injured forward Carl Landry is the only player on this year's team with more than three years of NBA experience.
Given his other responsibilities, Colangelo is unlikely to take on the full responsibility that goes with directing basketball operations. There's someone he surely trusts who is available, however: Colangelo's son, Bryan, a two-time NBA Executive of the Year who has been out of the league since being let go as president and GM of the Toronto Raptors after the 2012-13 season.
If Harris has truly lost faith in Hinkie's ability to complete the rebuilding process he began, one Colangelo or both Colangelos could guide Philadelphia back toward playoff contention on a more rapid timetable than Hinkie has pursued.
Scenario 3: Wait and see
Realistically, Sixers ownership probably doesn't yet know what happens next. The most striking aspect of Monday's news conference was Colangelo's admission that joining the organization wasn't on his radar screen a week and a half ago. It's almost inconceivable that, just since Thanksgiving, the Sixers' ownership team would have fully planned the team's direction over the next several years.
We'll know a lot more about where the 76ers are headed this summer. If Philadelphia lands two top-five picks, from among the team's own pick, its swap rights with Sacramento and a top-three protected pick from the Los Angeles Lakers, another lost season will look a lot more palatable.
Add the possible arrival of Dario Saric, the No. 12 pick in the 2014 draft who is currently playing in Turkey, and the Sixers could move toward contention by building around young talent.
If Philadelphia is again unlucky in the lottery and frustration with the process grows, at the very least Colangelo's arrival offers a Plan B. And it comes with the added short-term benefit of boosting the team's credibility around the league.
The 76ers took a step in a new direction on Monday. Only time will tell exactly what direction that is.