State of the Sixers: Lack of Transparency

Sixers C Joel Embiid dancing at Meek Mill show last night in WFC. Image Courtesy: Philly.com / Twitter @Owlpress

• Good Morning Philadelphia!  The Sixers are in the spotlight early Saturday morning without the team playing a basketball game on Friday night.  Center Joel Embiid shined on the stage where Philly native, Meek Mill,  performed as he brought the 7+ footer out to dance to Future's "Wicked".  Everything would've been fine with the Rookie Center dazzling the Wells Fargo Center crowd had he not been missing his 9th straight game tonight against the Miami Heat with a bone bruise to his left knee.

• Embiid has not played since the Sixers' nationally televised 5-point loss to the Houston Rockets in Philadlephia, in which after Embiid admitted to having some pain after one of his best games of the season.  On this same night, Joel admitted he had to convince the Sixers Medical Staff to play as he suffered the bone bruise exactly one week earlier against the Portland Trail Blazers.  Embiid has been selected to play in next Friday's NBA Rising Stars Game and Saturday night's Skills Competition, but new Sixers GM Bryan Colangelo says Embiid will not be able to participate in the festivities unless he plays in at least one game before next weekend.

• The Sixers have been on the uptick this season, mostly to Joel Embiid's debut in the NBA and his impact it is having on the rest of the team; the Sixers next win will double their win total from a year ago(10-72) with 29 games left to play, so they have that going for them.  But besides Embiid injuring his knee against the Trail Blazers and only playing once since, the first overall selection in this past June's NBA Draft, Ben Simmons, has not stepped on the court in an NBA regular season game due to a fractured foot on the last day of Training camp in September.  Simmons' injury usually has a recovery time of 6-8, but the Sixers, who have plenty of experience being cautious with injury, would not rush the rookie on to the floor so add at least two weeks to that.  Well ,we are now 18 weeks removed from the surgery and questions about the rookie are now intensifying and GM Bryan Colangelo is feeling the heat.

• As we rewind back to yesterday afternoon, Colangelo was a guest on 94.1 WIP Sportsradio Philadlephia's Carlin and Reese Afternoon Show and it seemed as if Colangelo was close to hanging up the phone as Carlin and Reese piled on the questions about the lack of answers regarding Embiid and Simmons' injuries.  Joel Embiid, who has been held out of games by the Sixers organizaiton because he is "hurt", dancing on stage only about 6 hours after the heated interview does not look good for the Sixers.

• Here is my problem with it all...The NBA stepped in on the Sixers situation with former GM, Sam Hinkie, who essentially tanked and kept a lot of information regarding the team close to his chest, as they [NBA] thought it was bad for the game, yet he really exposed the NBA for the flawed product it was and is.  So Hinkie was forced out and Jerry Colangelo was convinced by the league to intervene by bringing in his son Bryan Colangelo, who I feel is a meddling-middle of the road GM that in the past has lead his teams to mediocrity and nothing more, to fill Hinkie's shoes.  Yet, besides bringing in a couple middle of the road veterans, who have somewhat helped, Colangelo is not so sneakily conducting business as Hinkie did.  Such acts include; making moves to get the team as close to the cap floor as possible, sitting out Embiid and Simmons for longer than need, and not being upfront and transparent with the fans/media as to what the team is doing.  Now I ask, are Embiid and Simmons really as injured as the team is making it seem to be? OR...Is Colangelo pulling off the mid-season tank since the Sixers won too many games in July?  This upcoming draft in June has the potential to be one of the best drafts in years with a ton of talent at the Guard position which the team really needs, so I have no problem with the mid-season tank as long as there is more transparency from the organization.  The bottom line is speaking for myself, and I believe many others, the city will be behind this team when everything goes right because the most important thing is to win and all of the malarkey in the middle will pass, but I just don't see the point in keeping everything close to the chest, when Colangelo was brought in to be the "Anti-Hinkie".  As you can see with Colangelo's appearance on WIP for example, there is growing frustration with the organization as a whole that could be avoided by being straight forward and not throwing Head Coach Brett Brown under the bus to have to answer the questions that should be being asked by Colangelo and ownership.  The Sixers are by no means the New York Knicks right now as they go through turmoil on many different fronts, but I don't want to see the promise of this team and what could be be demolished by a lack of transparency when all this city wants just a little bit more honesty and not to feel as if they are being left in the dark as we all want to enjoy the ride that could come.