Sixers executive Bryan Colangelo wasn’t a fan of the team’s culture when he was hired, as he told Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on his podcast. “There was a losing culture,” Colangelo said of the team before he arrived. “There was a losing mindset. It had been ingrained partly due to the undertaking of rebuilding that they had been going through. It becomes part of the fabric of the team,” Colangelo said. “I think more than anything the mindset needed to shift, the mindset needed to change. And that’s why we’ve been talking about winning. Doing everything we can to promote winning, to promote a culture of excellence.”
Colangelo also told Wojnarowski that he had little interest in working under former GM Sam Hinkie, which was the arrangement first pitched to him by team ownership. “The first time that I met with David Blitzer and Josh Harris I basically told them I’m not the guy for this job. I suggested a few other people, one in particular that I thought would be ideal, to come in and compliment Sam to help take this thing to that next level. They were a little bit stunned at my reaction and my suggestion,” Colangelo said.
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The crew over at Basketball Insiders previewed the Celtics‘ upcoming season, with the general opinion being that Boston will finish first or second in the Atlantic Division in 2016/17.
- The Knicks are hoping that Derrick Rose‘s upcoming civil suit involving an alleged sexual assault won’t impact his season, Ian Begley of ESPN.com writes. “I think we’re just going to let the process work itself out,” team president Phil Jackson said when asked about the possibility of Rose missing training camp. “We’re not concerned with it. We understand this is a serious subject we’re talking about. But this has to be done outside of our control. It’s something we can’t control. Derrick has expressed that he’s not concerned with it. I mean, he’s quite aware of it. It’s not keeping him up at night. So we’re going with that, OK?“
- Undrafted free agent Jarrod Uthoff is excited to be joining a Raptors team that made it to last season’s Conference Finals, Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders relays. “It’ll be a great chance to learn from experienced NBA guys that play at a very high level,” Uthoff said. “Being around that every day, you can’t replace that. It’s a really professional organization that handles themselves with class in whatever they do. I think that’s showing on the court as well. It starts from the top down. They really created a special organization there.”
- Former second round pick Cleanthony Early won’t be attending the Knicks‘ training camp and the forward remains a free agent, Marc Berman of The New York Post notes.