No, Bryan Colangelo Didn't Turn down the Same Offer the Pelicans Made the Kings
Last night, the Sporting News’ Sean Deveney tweeted that the Pelicans offered the Sixers the same basic deal for Jahlil Okafor that landed them DeMarcus Cousins:
Pels offered Tyreke Evans, 2017 1st rounder and future pick for Jahlil Okafor. Same package for Cousins, but with Buddy Hield added. BUDDY!
— Sean Deveney (@SeanDeveney) February 20, 2017
In exchange for Cousins, the Kings got Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway (set to be waived), the Pelicans’ top-3 (reportedly) protected 2017 pick, and a 2017 second rounder. On its face, Colangelo turning down a similar offer for Okafor is a borderline fireable offense.
Everyone was quick to pile on him this morning, since he was only saved from turning down this supposed haul by Sam Hinkie, who had acquired the rights to swap picks with the Kings this year and their 2019 first round pick, which now puts the Sixers in a great position to capitalize on the Kings’ absolute idiocy that was only able to be activated because the Pelicans hadn’t done a deal for Okafor. These knee-jerk reactions included a take from Kyle, who had already written up a post about how Sam Hinkie managed to cuck Colangelo:
He was joined by a cacophony of Philly sports Twitter…
If the report that #Sixers turned down the Cousins' package for Okafor is true, Colangelo is now worst GM in city https://t.co/S68yIUtOge
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) February 20, 2017
And this is why I'm not confident in the least that Bryan Colangelo will pull the trigger on a worthwhile Jahlil Okafor deal. https://t.co/k9BSp0TprY
— Matt Lombardo 🏈 (@MattLombardoNFL) February 20, 2017
Are you concerned the Sixers may have turned down this deal? pic.twitter.com/NNGdeBIYyp
— 97.5 The Fanatic (@975TheFanatic) February 20, 2017
… and a whole bunch of people calling Colangelo an idiot (which he may very well be):
But Deveney’s report wasn’t even close to accurate. While the Pelicans gave the Kings a top-3 protected pick for Cousins, they reportedly offered a top-20 protected pick to the Sixers (much different!):
Pels wanted top 20 protection
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) February 20, 2017
Never mind that Buddy Hield wasn’t included. Nor was Langston Galloway.
So the Pelicans offer for Okafor was actually nothing like what they sent to the Kings for Cousins. Tyreke Evans and a top-20 protected pick is mostly garbage.
There are many reasons you can take umbrage with what Bryan Colangelo has or hasn’t done, but not pulling the trigger on Tyreke Evans and a top-20 protected pick (which would NOT have conveyed this year) isn’t one of them. In fact, he kind of won this trade… even if it was only because Sam Hinkie stole the Kings’ future before he was unceremoniously murdered by the father Colangelo. Trust the process.
