Colangelo wants to see 76ers 'very competitive in 3 years'

Philadelphia 76ers chairman Jerry Colangelo held tight Friday to previous comments regarding the approach the team is taking at the NBA trade deadline.

I think Sam (Hinkie), like every other president and GM in the league, are busy on the phones," Colangelo told reporters following the Basketball Hall of Fame finalists announcement in Toronto. "Just to see what's there. That doesn't mean we're committed to making a deal. Far from that. But I think you always have to be aware of what the market is for acquiring something."

The Sixers are an intriguing organization for a multitude of reasons, one of which is the feeling that Hinkie's much-maligned rebuild could be in for a shakeup with Colangelo now on board.

A quartet of bigs - the healthy (Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel), the injured (Joel Embiid), and the overseas (Dario Saric) - constitutes the current core and blue-chip future of the team, and Colangelo expanded a little on comments from earlier this month regarding an inevitable decision on the team's roster.

"I wish we knew," the 76-year-old veteran NBA executive told theScore in regards to when Embiid will be game ready. "If we knew he was going to play for sure, and if we knew more about Dario, then it starts to crystallize a bit."

Embiid has yet to play a minute in the NBA and is sitting out the second of his first two professional seasons due to a foot injury. The 21-year-old Saric remains plying his basketball trade in Turkey and may not cross the pond until 2017 for financial reasons.

"I think with this summer, the draft and free agency, we'll know a lot more."

If Colangelo plans on realizing his vision for the 76ers over the three-year contract he signed to be the organization's chairman in December, movement will probably need to be made soon.

"I'd like to see us become very competitive in three years," he added Friday. "Whatever that really means. That means not just making the playoffs.

"If I can help contribute to an improvement of the franchise, that's why I'm there."