Why you shouldn't worry (too much) about Bryan Colangelo rumors

I've seen a lot made of recent media reports that former Toronto Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo is a leading candidate to take the reins as lead executive of the Detroit Pistons.

But I wouldn't get too worked up over the story as there a lot of things to consider when evaluating reports such as these.

First, consider the source. In this case it is Michael Grange of sportsnet.ca. Not that I know anything about the quality of Grange's writing; I'm sure it's just fine, in fact. But in a report citing unnamed sources it's always helpful two consider two things -- geography and intent.

Grange is based in Toronto and covers the Raptors. He was actually writing a piece on the emergence of the Raptors' young core with the news about the Pistons buried in the middle. So the piece wasn't about the Pistons job search. And it wasn't even about Colangelo's successes and failures as a GM. It was a victory lap and thank you as one of the best young emerging teams in basketball is tasting some unexpected playoff success.

And, yes, Toronto's young core is quite splendid. I'm a particular fan of big men Jonas Valanciunas and Amir Johnson. But the Andrea Bragnani mistake is framed only in the sense that Colangelo was brave enough to draft Valanciunas even as fans feared it was another Bargnani.

And there is no mention of the ridiculous Landry Fields deal. Or trading Shawn Marion for Hedo Turkoglu. Or giving up on Ed Davis. Or selecting Terrence Ross one spot ahead of Andre Drummond. Not that I think it was the time or place to discuss such things. I'm just saying there was no incentive to downplay just how much of a candidate Colangelo is.

And you must also, of course, consider who could possibly be the "multiple NBA sources" Grange relied on. Consider that Grange is based in Toronto and its likely that his best, most reliable sources are in and around his home city. People he's been able to forge a relationship with over the years. Colangelo, coincidentally, is still based in Toronto and there is a strong likelihood that Grange has a good, long-standing relationship with both Colangelo and those associated with him.

That includes Raptors executives who spoke on the record, glowingly, about Colangelo, including Ed Stefanski, Colangelo's former right-hand man, and Tim Leiweke. And if Colangelo has a team of handlers or agents looking to prop up his profile, I'm sure they were happy to discuss how wonderful a job Colangelo did and how close he is to running an NBA organization again.

So there should be no surprise that this story would tout Colangelo as a leading candidate for the Pistons or any GM job in the league. And I'm sure HE IS a candidate -- he should be. He was a quality general manager in Phoenix dealing with a less than cooperative owner, and while he didn't enjoy the same success in Toronto, he had plenty of hits (Valancunias, Kyle Lowry, Johnson) to go along with his misses (Fields, Hedo, Gay, Ross over Drummond).

He's not my leading candidate but he is certainly worthy of serious consideration, and there has been no indication that the Pistons are going to take this GM search lightly and aren't going to examine every candidate, serious or otherwise, extremely closely . I'm sure Colangelo is as much of a candidate as Michael Zarren in Boston or Travis Schlenk in San Francisco.