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Ford: Sixers smarting, but are they smart?

Well, it's been quite a run for the 76ers recently, and maybe the organization can get a respite from the hilarity during the all-star weekend, at least until Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons are Instagrammed together doing the cha-cha slide barefoot down Bourbon Street.

Well, it's been quite a run for the 76ers recently, and maybe the organization can get a respite from the hilarity during the all-star weekend, at least until Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons are Instagrammed together doing the cha-cha slide barefoot down Bourbon Street.

That might finally make general manager Bryan Colangelo's head explode, assuming it hasn't already, which would at least explain some of his recent vacillations regarding the health of various players and the employment status of Jahlil Okafor.

It is difficult for the Sixers to reach new heights of strangeness at this point. If you use Aug. 10, 2012, as a handy starting guide - the date the team traded for Andrew Bynum, which is now four and a half years and two general managers ago - there has been a virtual mountain range of strangeness that pushed up from the bleak, flat landscape of mediocrity where the Sixers were previously mired.

Still, you've got to give the current administration credit. This season, as the team attempts to put aside three years of purposeful losing, might be the strangest of all, and that's really saying something. Making Sam Hinkie look forthcoming and reliable by comparison isn't a day's work for the timid.

Clearly, and many others have noted this, so there's no need to belabor it, the Sixers have a communication problem. There's nothing wrong with examining a guy's knee to determine the extent of a bone bruise, discovering a small meniscus tear during the examination, and coming out and saying: "Hey, here's what we found, and he'll play when he plays." In fact, that's the smart thing to do. Otherwise, when it does come out - as was the case with Embiid last week - it makes people feel misled and it causes the team, in the person of Colangelo, to do a lot of hemming and hawing to the point of invoking HIPPA privacy restraints, which is embarrassingly laughable in a business that hands out injury news every single day.

OK, fine. The team lies. Every team lies in every sport. That's what they do. That's what they have to do sometimes. What is worrisome in this case is that the Sixers don't appear to be sharp enough to do it well. If they can't fudge the edges of a simple injury report, how in the world will the brain trust ever solve the Rubik's Cube left behind by Hinkie? That's the real question not being answered.

The poison pill in The Process is that Colangelo is saddled with too many centers. This is not a fresh observation. He has to unsaddle himself somehow, although it doesn't appear he will be able to move either Okafor or Nerlens Noel by Thursday's trade deadline. His recent machinations to deal away Okafor, with New Orleans the most rumored landing spot, were a failure and caused the team additional chagrin when Okafor returned from limbo like an outbound letter that lacked proper postage.

"Some of the guys on the training staff told me that if I was up to it, I could return to the team today and play in Boston," Okafor said after rejoining the Sixers for the last game before the break. So, apparently, he shrugged, got on a plane, and put on a uniform again. If the transaction was really that casual, with no contact from Colangelo, then the disconnect isn't just an external one.

Meanwhile, Brett Brown is left to explain all these comings and goings and disappearances and diagnoses on a daily basis, and I've never been a "poor Brett Brown" guy, but, jeez, poor Brett Brown. What a pain in the tail for him, although one he's endured for four seasons, so at least he's used to it.

That's his problem. Colangelo's problem is trying to trade Okafor, who is a defensive and rebounding liability, and Noel, who is about to come off his rookie contract and would be an expensive risk for a trade partner. Neither player will bring much, and Colangelo has a reputation around the league as a GM who tries to win every trade. That doesn't make you many friends and it doesn't make you many trades, either.

In his previous stop in Toronto, Colangelo had a spotty record, although his greatest setback was being unable to talk Chris Bosh out of joining LeBron's dance party in South Beach. That wasn't really his fault. Nothing was going to stop that train.

Still, he had ample time to fix the Raptors, but they never won a playoff series in his seven full seasons and didn't even qualify in his last five. His time in Phoenix before that was always overshadowed by the presence of his father - who was really pulling the strings? - and there is a school of thought that the only truly tangible attribute on Colangelo's resumé is his last name.

Maybe that's harsh, but we're going to find out. The Sixers are a fair test. There are a lot of assets here, and a lot of opportunity, but there are also mines in the field. Smart, well-run organizations maximize potential and step carefully while doing so. Of course, a smart, well-run organization isn't always tripping around with a Western omelet on its collective face, either. That's the conundrum. Could the Sixers possibly be as clumsy as they appear? Doesn't seem possible, but it's a scary thought.

bford@phillynews.com

@bobfordsports