OT Sam Hinkie

[Dogdeacon]

I read his resignation letter on the train this AM, yikes his logic & strategic thinking isn't wrong but wayyyy too deep and philosophical for something like basketball.

I've never seen him or the 76ers address the fact that they have fielded a team for 3 years and sold tickets to watch that team and expected other teams to try and sell their fans on watching that team. They are not in the championship or nothing business, they are in the entertainment business.

Add to that the losing culture that they steered into and made no visible efforts to counteract and you have a recipe for disaster. They've traded 3-4 years of worthless crap basketball for a maybe 33% chance to hit the jackpot with their various draft picks and contend for a championship. But they've continually reduced that % chance of hitting the jackpot by creating a negative losing culture of bad habits, immaturity and impatience masquerading as a long-view. They almost always preferred draft picks over players even if those players were contributing or had upside, and combined this with drafting very young prospects unable to contribute immediately. Embid & Noell were chosen knowing they'd each miss their first year, they also drafted the Dario Saric guy sitting in Europe.

I simply don't understand how you craft a thoughtful long-view strategy that totally ignores the present WHEN people are paying real money for that purposefully forfeited present. The most telling part of his letter is that Hinkie actually wrote that he expects the ownership will be separating Delaware County residents from their wallets for years to come. That's the problem.

 

[WhartonHusky]

You are right. You don't understand. Basketball, as a form of entertainment, is not something anyone is required to watch or pay for. If you don't like what the Sixers are doing, don't go. Don't watch. Vote with your wallet.

What Hinkie inherited was a team devoid of current quality assets and devoid of valuable future picks. Things were AWFUL. He presented options to Sixer management about how they could become a) competitive (i.e. playoff caliber) or b) how they could potentially compete for championships. Each required a different strategy and different sacrifices.

The management chose to go "all in" and try to compete for a chip -- something that Sam began to engineer. He was open/honest that it would take time and be painful. As a lifelong Sixers fan that was tired of the mediocrity that existed post Iverson, I was FULLY on board with his process. I am smart enough to know that all Sam did was take a step back in hopes of taking 2 steps forward. There aren't/weren't guarantees. He put the Sixers in position to gain assets and optionality in order to obtain superstars -- via trades, draft, and even FAs.

The plan is midstream and I am deeply upset that the Sixer management, of which I know a couple, actually made the recent decision they did.

Of course ownership wants to separate customers from their wallets...and guess what, so does UConn. Wake up. This is a capitalistic society.

 

[Connecticut34]

He was on Zach Lowe's podcast on Tuesday. Really impressive guy--definitely worth a listen.

 

[Dogdeacon]

You are right. You don't understand. Basketball, as a form of entertainment, is not something anyone is required to watch or pay for. If you don't like what the Sixers are doing, don't go. Don't watch. Vote with your wallet.

What Hinkie inherited was a team devoid of current quality assets and devoid of valuable future picks. Things were AWFUL. He presented options to Sixer management about how they could become a) competitive (i.e. playoff caliber) or b) how they could potentially compete for championships. Each required a different strategy and different sacrifices.

The management chose to go "all in" and try to compete for a chip -- something that Sam began to engineer. He was open/honest that it would take time and be painful. As a lifelong Sixers fan that was tired of the mediocrity that existed post Iverson, I was FULLY on board with his process. I am smart enough to know that all Sam did was take a step back in hopes of taking 2 steps forward. There aren't/weren't guarantees. He put the Sixers in position to gain assets and optionality in order to obtain superstars -- via trades, draft, and even FAs.

The plan is midstream and I am deeply upset that the Sixer management, of which I know a couple, actually made the recent decision they did.

Of course ownership wants to separate customers from their wallets...and guess what, so does UConn. Wake up. This is a capitalistic society.

So do you go to any games and pay to watch that crap? I understand in the words of Steve Martin that its a 'profit deal' but I simply don't think its good business to rip-off your customers even in the short-term. I would never pay to watch the current 76ers even as an away team and I'm a big NBA fan but haven't watched a minute from one of their games in over 3 years.
That said, I understand that EVENTUALLY a plan like Hinkie's plays the odds and will produce a superstar, the problem is he kept doubling down on the short-term sacrifices and it became akin to a gambler that doubles his bets every time he loses. Ultimately you are going to win and the Sixers have to get better (can't be worse) and with all their draft picks likely will be a good team in 2-3 years, but at what cost?!

Secondly I still have seen no justifiable defense of the losing culture. Hinkie underestimated the toll that losing would take on both the team and the organization, especially as it became losing at historically bad levels. The one thing that firing Hinkie at this point might do is create the perception of moving on from that losing culture and that perception might increase their chances of finding a free agent. You might take the view to commend Hinkie for not choosing short-term fixes that preserve his job like many GMs do, but he steered so far into the losing that he almost guaranteed they'd have to dismiss him to move on to the next chapter.

 

[Matrim55]

The process worked perfectly. They hired a guy who collected a ton of assets over 36 months, and have now shipped him out in order to make room for real basketball people who can actually accomplish something with said assets (I know Bryan Colangelo's track record was mixed, but he did bring in Lowry, DeRozen, Ross & Valanciunas - not bad, right?).

And by sacrificing Hinkie they've now created a gap between the two regimes, and can legitimately go out and sell fans on "it's a new day!"

I think this was good work by the 76ers, to be honest. Now it'll be interesting to see if they can get anything for Okafor or Noel, since one of them has to be moved.

 

[James]

@WhartonHusky it takes no skill to do what hinkie did, if the entire league bottomed out until one day hoping for a superstar to fall in their lap , the NBA would be doomed. Assets assets assets assets assets, all those young assets development have been curtailed and confidence destroyed. He has no interest in signing BASKETBALL talent and building a contender , go look at Masai . He invests in players. He also wouldn't have ended up with okafor, Noel, Embiid and saric.... Beyond mediocre draft history. I'm well aware hinkie wins trades but all of that is relatively meaningless in the grand scheme of his process. He won't be an NBA gm for a long time

Having said that, Bryan colangelo being hired is a gross display of nepotism. I'm guessing jerry consulted doc rivers ...

 

[Fishy]

The letter was nuts, but not necessarily in a bad way - I liked how he referred to himself as being "repotted professionally." Clever way to put it.

But the guy had stones to try to do what he did - it seems that ownership lost their nerve before he did.

We'll see if it works out.

 

[superjohn]

I liked their Detroit Lions strategy of using your top pick to draft the same position every single year. At least the Lions were drafting healthy receivers every year, the same can't be said for the 76ers love of injured centers.

 

[WhartonHusky]

I think its shee ignorance to say it takes no skill to do what Hinkie did. The jury is still out on most of his picks, but look at the trades he made. My god, he was criticized for trading then ROY MCW to the Bucks for the Lakers pick. Are you serious? MCW is a career backup at best and that Laker pick is top3 protected this year and unprotected next year. Maybe no one has noticed, but the Lakers are dumpster fire far worse than the Sixers.

How about taking on Carl Landry and Jason Thompson from the Kings and extracting Nik Stauskas, an unprotected 1st and pick swaps for 2 years. What other teams are making these bold and fruitful trades?

Tanking is not new fellas....there are countless examples of it. The Seattle Sonics traded away Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis...went into tank mode, moved to OKC and drafted 3 consecutive superstars. Where is the outrage?

Anyone judging where the Sixers are versus where they have come from would realize it's an unmitigated success. Regardless of Embiid, Okafor, Nerlens, etc.

Are the Lakers or Orlando or Minnesota doomed because of repeated losing seasons? That logic that losing means confidence is destroyed is pure lunacy. Countless examples of bad teams that get better in 1 or 2 years. Just a silly argument.

 

[WhartonHusky]

By the way, I do go to games (2-3 per season) and I have NBA League Pass. I've watched no less than 70 games/year since Hinkie took over. Despite all the losing I still would rather watch the Sixers hustle and play hard in a losing effort than watch the Knicks or Nets do anything.

The question i would ask you...when UConn fell on hard times did you abandon them or watch the games? I watched them all.

 

[Matrim55]

Tanking is not new fellas....there are countless examples of it. The Seattle Sonics traded away Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis...went into tank mode, moved to OKC and drafted 3 consecutive superstars. Where is the outrage?

They drafted 3 consecutive superstars. The 76ers have drafted two injured bigs (Noel & Embiid), a big who doesn't play defense (Okafor), and a big who's still in Europe (Saric). Three of those guys are centers, none with range. The one guy who's a PF (Saric) can't shoot. None of the pieces are complementary.

As you said tho, OKC drafted 3 straight superstars. Where is the outrage, indeed.

 

[James]

The sixers are historically bad though, they aren't remotely close to being in a position like the magic or wolves. Hinkie took tanking to a new level, therein creating a sports atrocity.

These assets mean nothing if you can't draft well, How can anybody be a proponent of his last few drafts? Three straight centers is poor asset management,just dumb. Are we gonna sit here and say next year is the year? Embiid is worth 25 wins now lol?

The only skill I can give hinkie credit for is trading a second round pick here for two second rounders in 2020. Sure the franchise has more picks in its cabinet and cap space as well since Sam was hired, but in the process he's single handledly destroyed many league inroads and all optics with respect to phillys brand. No FA is signing there

 

[WhartonHusky]

Yeah...OKC drafted KD and won 20 games. Then they drafted Russ and won 23...after starting the season 3-29. OH the HORROR. How could that losing attitude not infect this promising young core??? I doubt they will ever be able to turn it around. You can't bounce back from that.

 

[WhartonHusky]

I'd much rather be a NYK fan. Nothing sweeter than winning 31 games and not even having a lotto pick. I guess all that winning helps the team's confidence though.

 

[Walker11]

All I can say is that I loved seeing the Timberwolves land Wiggins and KAT. Hinkie's strategy may have been sound, but it was making a mockery of the game. There is tanking, and then there is doing what the 76'ers have been doing. Half their squad should be in the DLeague.

 

[kobe]

The process worked perfectly. They hired a guy who collected a ton of assets over 36 months, and have now shipped him out in order to make room for real basketball people who can actually accomplish something with said assets (I know Bryan Colangelo's track record was mixed, but he did bring in Lowry, DeRozen, Ross & Valanciunas - not bad, right?).

And by sacrificing Hinkie they've now created a gap between the two regimes, and can legitimately go out and sell fans on "it's a new day!"

I think this was good work by the 76ers, to be honest. Now it'll be interesting to see if they can get anything for Okafor or Noel, since one of them has to be moved.

Interesting that they brought in Jerry Colangelo midseason and 20 minutes after Hinkie resigns they hire his son to be GM. I'm sure it was purely a coincidence...SMH.

 

[Walker11]

I'd much rather be a NYK fan. Nothing sweeter than winning 31 games and not even having a lotto pick. I guess all that winning helps the team's confidence though.

Not a Knicks fan, but there is one potential cornerstone player on those two rosters, and he's not a Sixer. That's what happens when your strategy is to put yourself in the best position to get lucky.

Edit. I mean, I guess Embiid could be a superstar but it sure doesn't look promising.

 

[King Jonathan]

Instead of fostering a core, the Sixers continued to trade away veteran assets and stockpiling picks. There was no direction for this team.
That letter was a mixture of navel-gazing and nauseating TED talk corporate speak that sounds great but had no basis in practicality.

 

[WhartonHusky]

Its silly to say the team has no direction when they are public about exactly what they are doing. You may choose to disagree with the strategy, but you are ignorant if you don't see the direction.

At least 4 NBA teams have not won more than 1/3 of their games the past 3 seasons -- PHI, LAL, ORL, and NYK.

As a Sixer fan, I wouldn't trade what we got with any of those rosters.

But I'm fine with the hating....

 

[James]

You have league pass and you'd take sixers assets over the magics ?

Oladipo, hezonja , Aaron Gordon, Elfrid, Fournier

5 players alone who would be better than anybody on the sixers, and all starters pretty much minus Mario. If you want to trumpet being marginally better than the lakers going forward , by all means do so. But LAL has actually drafted better thanks to kupchack in recent years; Randle and Russell would be the best players on philly. it's all a good strategy until you realize the gm has no idea what the hell hes doing on draft night.

 

[WhartonHusky]

Dipo is a good player
Herzonja -- jury out
Gordon -- young/inconsistent and lacks a 3P shot
Elfrid -- don't like, see also MCW
Fournier is a FA

I'll take what I got...and more importantly, what I can add.

 

[Matrim55]

Dipo is a good player
Herzonja -- jury out
Gordon -- young/inconsistent and lacks a 3P shot
Elfrid -- don't like, see also MCW
Fournier is a FA

I'll take what I got...and more importantly, what I can add.

Gordon's increased his true shooting % by 25 points and his effective field goal % by 30 points. He's got a positive PER as well.

More importantly, advanced metrics love him on both sides of the ball. Same with Dipo. Same for Vucevic.

Those are three guys who can start for a team that's actually competitive. I'm not sure the 76ers have even one.

 

[WhartonHusky]

Oh and this Orlando team likely won't be championship caliber. Over the past 3 seasons they've won 20, 23, and 25 games (before this season). All that losing will surely strip the confidence of their players and negatively affect their development. Poor guys.

 

[WhartonHusky]

When you look at TS%

Hollis > Dipo
Nerlens > Gordon
RoCo > Payton
Okafor > Vuce

On a PER basis
Dipo is strong
Herzonja is awful
Payton only slightly better than RoCo
And Nerlens and Okafor are better than Gordon

Sorry...I just don't see what makes this team so much better

 

[UconnFanNVa]

I truly believe that a bad environment can mold and shape who a player is for the rest of their career in the NBA, and believe this is what is happening to the 76ers. Get as many top players as you want there, year after year they arent learning how to be professional NBA players. How can you when everyone there is a young player who has had little to no Vet leadership? i'm all for making sacrifices now that can yield greater benefits later, but you need to switch gears at some point and start mixing in some vets to help these young guys understand what it takes to be the best. I'm just afraid that Philly doesnt have enough of those guys. Trade some good prospects for vets and start winning a few games. Culture and attitude plays a role.

but they arent looking for that. They are looking to draft the next Lebron so that they dont have to work on developing a player and slowly making strides to becoming a good team (ala Charlotte with Kemba Walker). Problem with that strategy is that that type of player doesnt enter the NBA every year, and when they do, you arent even a lock to get the #1 pick because the NBA has a draft lottery. They could float around in the lottery for 15 - 20 years before they hit that jackpot that they were looking for.