One of the most bizarre names to surface in the Chicago Bulls search for a new lead executive is former Philadelphia 76ers president Bryan Colangelo.
Most of the candidates that the Chicago Bulls have interviewed for their front office opening of lead executive have made a lot of sense. Names keep coming up like Denver Nuggets general manager Arturas Karnisovas, Utah Jazz general manager Justin Zanik, Los Angeles Clippers general manager Trent Redden, and Toronto Raptors general manager Bobby Webster, in the Bulls candidate search.
Yet, one name surfaced on April 8 that didn’t make as much sense as any other candidate that they’ve interviewed thus far.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic on Twitter, the Bulls interviewed former Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo for their opening. Colagenlo also held front office positions with the Raptors and Phoenix Suns in the past.
The Bulls interviewed former 76ers president Bryan Colangelo for top basketball operations position, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Colangelo also has been lead executive in Toronto and Phoenix.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 8, 2020
Why the Bulls would interview a candidate like Colangelo to replace the likes of vice president of basketball operations John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman is beyond me. Colangelo had one of the most confusing and controversial ends to a run in as a lead executive in any front office in the NBA in recent memory.
This piece from 2018 by Ben Detrick at The Ringer outlines the weird situation with Colangelo and the Sixers when he was using all of those Twitter burner accounts to even criticize some of his own players.
One of those players that he criticized was a former No. 1 overall pick of his and Washington Huskies point guard Markelle Fultz. The Sixers used the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft to take Fultz, who is already no longer with the team. Fultz actually had more luck with the Orlando Magic this season than he ever did in two seasons with the Sixers.
The other No. 1 overall pick that Colangelo had with the Sixers was more of a slam dunk, but still turned out well with the former LSU Tigers point forward Ben Simmons. At least the Sixers are going to be a perennial multi-time All-Star out of picking Simmons.
Nonetheless, there are much better candidates that the Bulls have out there than Colangelo. If that’s all that their left with, then this lead executive search that president Michael Reinsdorf is starting is going nowhere.
Colangelo has not held a position in any NBA front office since he resigned as the Sixers president back in July 2018. That makes sense given the downright weird allegations that came against him and his wife with the Twitter burner accounts.
This is a candidate that the Bulls should now stay away from during their lead executive search.