Jerry Colangelo was hired by the Philadelphia 76ers' last December as chairman of Basketball Operations and then took a role as special adviser to the managing partner following the hiring of his son, Bryan Colangelo, as general manager.

The 76ers are in the middle of a rebound though they're widely expected to be improved in 16-17 with the draft selection of Ben Simmons, as well as the additions of Joel Embiid and Dario Saric.

"I'm sure that everyone should have optimism," Colangelo said. "But there's a word I've always used over the years about optimism. It should be guarded optimism because things take time. When you're building teams — and I've had the privilege of doing that quite a few times in my career — you're adding pieces here and there, and then once in a while you strike out and get that last piece. I think where the Sixers are today is, this is the beginning of that particular process, and that is building what everyone would hope to be a championship team."