Section 215
Fansided

Philadelphia 76ers will be losers of free agency, NBA Draft if Bryan Colangelo stays

By Dan Parzych

BOSTON, MA - MAY 9: Brett Brown of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on during Game Five of the Eastern Conference Second Round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden on May 9, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics defeat the 76ers 114-112 to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - MAY 9: Brett Brown of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on during Game Five of the Eastern Conference Second Round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden on May 9, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics defeat the 76ers 114-112 to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Whether the story surrounding Bryan Colangelo is true or not, the Philadelphia 76ers will be major losers of the offseason if he sticks around.

The bombshell story surrounding Philadelphia 76ers general manager Bryan Colangelo seems to get crazier by the minute when looking at all of the rumors swirling since the news broke late Tuesday night.

Between Colangelo possibly being responsible for five burner accounts on Twitter used to bash and release medical information about players to the recent rumors of his wife or son potentially involved with the accounts, this story is truly mind blowing for all sports fans.

Hopefully, it’s only a matter of time before the truth comes out over whether Colangelo was involved or not, but either way, the longer this takes, the more it’s going to hurt the Sixers in the offseason.

Related Story: 3 reasons Brett Brown deserved extension

After making a huge leap to finally become a serious threat in the Eastern Conference, this Colangelo distraction was the last thing Philadelphia needed to deal with at the moment with the NBA Draft and free agency right around the corner. For years, the Sixers were one of the biggest laughing stocks in the NBA while going through rebuilding mode, but the team ended up being one of the biggest surprises of the 2017-18 season by winning 50 games.

Even better, Philadelphia advanced to the semifinals of the playoffs before losing a tough series to the Boston Celtics, although Brett Brown‘s team still had plenty to be proud of. During that series, the Sixers made a huge statement by showing the young talent of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid are going to make this team a strong contender for years to come.

With that being said, the one key takeaway from that series was the only chance Philadelphia is going to have at taking down some of the top teams in the Eastern Conference in the future is if they add another superstar.

Unfortunately, when looking at some of the trust issues that members of the Sixers or even NBA players in general may have with Colangelo, nobody will even consider joining the organization through free agency if he’s still part of the picture. Even when it comes to the NBA Draft, why would any rookie be excited about being selected to a team in which the general manager may or may not have used Twitter to bash some of his own players?

Right now, this entire situation is an absolute mess, and the longer Colangelo is still in the picture, the uglier it’s going to get for the Sixers. While Colangelo certainly deserves to claim his innocence since this matter is currently under investigation, Philadelphia as an organization can’t afford to miss out on potential players in the upcoming draft or free agency period as a result of all this.

Next: Grading top NFC East picks in 2018 NFL Draft

Based off the early facts and speculation from the first few days, it’s not looking good for Colangelo at the moment. So when it comes to doing what’s best for the team, the Sixers need to figure out a way to get Colangelo out of the picture, whether it involves firing or convincing him to resign as general manager to avoid the team ending up being one of the biggest losers of the offseason.