Utah Jazz: Bryan Colangelo saga adds further controversy to ROY race

A recently revealed tweet from a purported Bryan Colangelo Twitter burner account may spark some discontent among Utah Jazz fans.

If you’re a Utah Jazz fan, I think it goes without saying that you’re probably familiar with the extremely heated (and extremely petty) Rookie of the Year debate. While Donovan Mitchell and Philadelphia 76ers rising star Ben Simmons are certainly considered the two front-runners, there’s no questioning which way Jazz fans tend to lean.

And while Mitchell has plenty of accomplishments that would make him worthy of the nod – he led all rookies in scoring, set a new rookie record for most three-pointers made in a season, took a Jazz team that lost their lone All-Star this past summer into the playoffs, in the Western Conference, no less – sometimes fans still aim to make Donovan’s case by criticizing Ben Simmons.

This includes bringing up his lack of a three-point shot, or a jump shot at all for that matter. Others like to harp on the fact that he plays in the weaker Eastern Conference alongside an All-Star (an All-Star starter, at that) in Joel Embiid. But still the most common gripe is that many consider Ben Simmons to not be a true rookie. After all, he was drafted in 2016 and was only eligible as a rookie in 2017-18 due to the fact that he sat out the entire 2016-17 season with a foot injury.

Honestly, at times I felt as if some of the criticisms got quite old. Yes, as a Jazz fan myself, I want Mitchell to win the ROY award as much as anyone, but to discredit Simmons as anything less than a phenomenal player is foolish. And while I do agree that having an entire year with an NBA team to learn their system, participate in NBA workouts, study film, get accustomed to life in the league and be around teammates is an advantage, the fact of the matter is that NBA rule considers Simmons a rookie due to the fact that he had never before suited up for a real NBA game prior to 2017-18.

And that’s that, right? Well, yes it is, but a recent incident on Twitter may allow Jazz fans to have a true gripe regarding Simmons’ place in the ROY race.

If you’ve missed out on all the latest Bryan Colangelo madness, you may be living under a rock, because it’s certainly become a major story. Just in case, though, you can read the entire story from The Ringer via the link in the tweet below. I’ve also included the entire scoop in a nutshell beneath that.

Essentially, Colangelo is being accused of using several different Twitter burner accounts to criticize NBA players, particularly current and former Sixers, insult decisions made by current and former 76ers personnel and specifically target certain members of the Philly media in an attempt to stir rumors or create gossip, among other things. There have been some pretty steep allegations, but also some pretty convincing evidence.

Philadelphia has since released an investigation on the situation and it will be absolutely thrilling to see what comes of it.

Getting back to the issue at hand, though, one particular tweet sent out by one of the alleged Colangelo burner accounts seemed to indicate that Simmons could have played in 2016-17, but sat out for the sole purpose of remaining eligible for the Rookie of the Year award this season.

Check out the screenshot of the tweet and some additional insight below:

https://twitter.com/LifeOnaPlate/status/1001827814650228736

Obviously, I get that there are a lot of hypotheticals involved here. First of all, despite the interesting evidence, let’s assume that Colangelo is innocent until proven guilty. There’s no guarantee that the Twitter user so-called “Eric jr” is actually the Sixers president of basketball operations. Not only that, but one tweet hardly tells the whole story. Perhaps it really was unwise for Simmons to try to play due to the foot injury and his season-long absence was absolutely legitimate.

But on the other hand, assume that Eric jr is a Colangelo burner account and that, as he appears to be hinting at by answering the question stated in the tweet he was replying to, Simmons really could have come back and played, it’s hard not to presume that he was simply held out so as to not lose his rookie status.

I’ll be honest, it wouldn’t surprise me if there was a lot of truth to that and it’s something that I kind of suspected long before this. However, I wasn’t thinking so much about preserving Simmons’ rookie status, but more about the fact that the 76ers are no strangers to tanking. In a 2016-17 season where they finished 28-54, second to last in the Eastern Conference, what reason did they have to rush their ailing rookie back?

The more the losses piled up, the better their ping-pong ball chances would become in the draft lottery. They did end up with the third overall pick in the 2017 Draft, which they ultimately traded for the first overall and used to select Washington’s Markelle Fultz. Could sitting Simmons out have been motivated by a desire to earn a higher pick? Based on their track record, I think it’s entirely plausible.

Could it have also been motivated by a desire to let him maintain his rookie status and start fresh in 2017-18, giving him a leg-up in the Rookie of the Year race? That’s some high-level conspiracy stuff but, quite frankly, I don’t think it’s unfeasible.

Whether that was a true motivating factor or not, though, it certainly adds more legitimacy to the frustration of Utah Jazz fans that feel that Donovan Mitchell as a true rookie is more deserving of the ROY award than supposed sophomore Ben Simmons. There was already some speculation that he could have played in the latter part of 2016-17 despite the foot injury, and this Colangelo madness and the particular tweet from Eric jr certainly add further fuel to the fire.

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Regardless of what information surfaces from the Colangelo investigation or if any further details emerge about why Ben Simmons didn’t play in the latter part of 2016-17, NBA rule still considers Simmons a rookie and he’s still the favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award. Chances are that at the NBA Awards Show on June 25th, he’ll be the one hoisting up the hardware.

And if that does turn out to be the case, you can bet that especially with this recent allegation, Jazz fans will be even more salty about their beloved rookie getting snubbed.

Fortunately, end of season awards, particularly one-time things such as Rookie of the Year, don’t define a player’s career. And any such snub will only serve to fuel Donovan’s fire as he looks towards claiming a bigger prize, not only for himself, but for the entire state of Utah – an NBA Championship.