Report: Bryan Colangelo Buys Stake in Illawarra Hawks After LaMelo Ball Rumors

Former NBA executive Bryan Colangelo, who most recently worked as the Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations and general manager, has partnered with Australian and American businessmen to buy a stake in the National Basketball League's Illawarra Hawks, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Former Hawks point guard and potential No. 1 overall 2020 NBA draft pick LaMelo Ball had previously been interested in buying a stake of his old team, per Wojnarowski, but "serious discussions" never led to an agreement being finalized.

The Hawks are one of nine teams in the NBL, the top professional league in Australia and New Zealand.

Colangelo will not be overseeing the team from a president or general manager capacity but will hold a leadership role as far as the governance of the organization, per Wojnarowski.

The 55-year-old has worked as the GM for the Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors and 76ers. He's a two-time NBA Executive of the Year award winner, taking home the honor in 2004-05 with Phoenix and 2006-07 for Toronto.

Colangelo held the dual role of president of basketball operations and GM for the 76ers from 2016-2018. His career in Philadelphia ended after it was revealed that his wife, Barbara Bottini, had three Twitter burner accounts that disparaged current and former 76ers players (e.g., Joel Embiid) and ex-GM Sam Hinkie and hinted at personal information about players to the press, per Ben Detrick of The Ringer.

As for Ball, a deal for the Hawks seemed all but certain on April 2, with his manager Jermaine Jackson going so far as to say "it's a done deal" to ESPN's Jonathan Givony.

However, the NBL released a statement that day acknowledging negotiations but saying that a deal between Ball and the Hawks had not been finalized, per Givony.

A purchase still seemed likely as late as May 25, when Tim Barrow of the Illawarra Mercury reported that a deal appeared "imminent."

But that may not be the case anymore with Colangelo and his partners buying a stake in the team.

Ball is the No. 1 overall pick in the latest mock draft from Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman. This year's draft will be held on October 15 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.