Bryan Colangelo [kuh-LAN-jah-lo] (born June 1, 1965), also known as BC, is the President and General Manager of the Toronto Raptors of the NBA. He is the son of Phoenix sports mogul, Jerry Colangelo. He attended Cornell University and earned a bachelor of science degree in business management and applied economics. He was the 2005 and 2007 recipient of the NBA Executive of the Year Award.
Career with Phoenix
Colangelo began his NBA front-office career with the Phoenix Suns, a franchise then owned by his father. He was a part of that organization for 15 years, the last 11 as General Manager.
During his tenure in Phoenix, Colangelo made a number of transactions that have received wide praise across the NBA,[citation needed] including the drafting of would-be superstars Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire. Colangelo was roundly criticized for his trade of Jason Kidd to the New Jersey Nets for Stephon Marbury, but corrected this mistake by trading Marbury and oft-injured Penny Hardaway to the New York Knicks for several expiring contracts, including that of Antonio McDyess.[citation needed] The additional salary cap space created by this trade allowed Colangelo to sign Steve Nash back from the Dallas Mavericks in the summer of 2004. Nash would go on to be the 2004-05 and 2005-06 NBA Most Valuable Player, and the Suns would go 62–20 and claim the top playoff seed in the Western Conference in the 2004-05 season. As a result, Colangelo was awarded the 2005 NBA Executive of the Year Award.
In the summer of 2005, Colangelo traded disgruntled shooting guard Joe Johnson to the Atlanta Hawks for two future first-round picks and Boris Diaw, who then won the 2006 NBA Most Improved Player Award. Colangelo also dealt Quentin Richardson to the New York Knicks. Despite the loss of these two players and the loss of Stoudemire for virtually the entire season (only playing in 3 regular season games), the Suns once again led the Pacific Division, prompting many to speculate that Colangelo could win the NBA Executive of the Year Award for the second straight year.[citation needed]
In addition to his work with the Suns, he also served as president of Phoenix Arena Sports (PAS), the owning entity of the Arizona Rattlers (Arena Football League) and the operating entity of the Phoenix Mercury (WNBA) from June 1991 through June 2002. Rattlers won the championship in 1994 and 1997, the Mercury played in the WNBA finals in 1998. He won the AFL Executive of the Year award in 1993 for his work with the Rattlers.
Departure to Toronto
In 2004, the Suns were sold to a group of investors led by Robert Sarver, although Colangelo stayed on as President and GM. Shortly after the Raptors fired Rob Babcock in January 2006, rumors began swirling that the team was pursuing Colangelo despite the Raptors' claims that they were initiating an "exhaustive" search for a new GM. [citation needed]
On February 27, 2006, Colangelo resigned from his position with the Suns, and on February 28, 2006 the Raptors announced him as their new President and GM. On May 23, 2006, Colangelo and the Raptors were awarded the first overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft.
On June 8, 2006, Colangelo pulled his first trade since he joined the Raptors by swapping the much-criticized first-rounder Rafael Araújo for Robert Whaley and Kris Humphries with the Utah Jazz. He completed his second trade by sending forward Eric Williams, fan favourite Matt Bonner and a 2009 second-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs for center Rasho Nesterovic on June 21, 2006. The Raptors also announced that they had waived Robert Whaley.
His first major trade as GM of the Raptors occurred when he traded Charlie Villanueva, who was runner-up for the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, for Milwaukee Bucks point guard T.J. Ford.[1] Some believed that Villanueva's presence hindered the development of Chris Bosh, who is considered to be the new franchise player of the Toronto Raptors following the departure of Vince Carter. But Colangelo specified that the team was in need of a true point guard, and in order to receive a quality point guard in T.J. Ford, one must also give up a lot in return, hence the trade took place the way it did.
Colangelo picked the 20-year-old Italian Andrea Bargnani with the first overall selection in the 2006 NBA Draft which was held in New York City on June 28, 2006. This made Bargnani the first European selected first overall in the history of the NBA Draft. He also signed several free agents from European teams, including Jorge Garbajosa and Anthony Parker.
On July 16, 2006, Colangelo signed Bosh to a contract extension which will be in effect starting from the 2007-08 season. The contract is for three years plus a player option for the fourth year, and could pay Bosh up to US$65 million over the four-year span.
Going into the 2007 playoffs the Raptors have clinched the Atlantic Division. Many have credited their significant turnaround from a 27-55 2005-2006 season to the changes made by Colangelo.
Another transaction made by Colangelo which should be noted is the acquisition of Luke Jackson from Idaho of the D-League. He stated that he did it to compensate for the losses of Bargnani and Parker to injury. Colangelo then cleared the 35th overall pick in the 2006 draft, P.J. Tucker, an undersized power forward.
Another of Colangelo's notable tranactions came at the trade deadline when he sent seldom used G/F Fred Jones to Portland for G/F Juan Dixon, who almost instantly became a focal point in coach Sam Mitchell's offense.
Colangelo is now being heralded as the new "Godfather of basketball" in Toronto, after being named executive of the year (2007) for the second time.
Colangelo was awarded the 2007 Executive of the Year Award in the weeks following the Raptors' series loss to the Nets in the first round of the playoffs.
During the offseason, Colangelo gave the 2009 and 2011 second-round draft picks to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Carlos Delfino.
References
- ^ "Raptors deal Villanueva to Bucks for Ford". ESPN.com. 2006-07-01. Retrieved 2007-03-21.