The sudden resignation of Sixers GM Sam Hinkie on Wednesday night brought an end to one of the more controversial front office tenures the NBA has experienced in recent memory. Philadelphia went 47-195 in Hinkie’s time, its winning percentage decreasing in each of his three seasons. Now, it appears the task of rebuilding the Sixers will fall to Bryan Colangelo, whom the team is reportedly poised to hire as its new GM, and his father, Jerry Colangelo, the team’s chairman of basketball operations.
In his somewhat bizarre 13-page letter of resignation, Hinkie wrote, “There has been much criticism of our approach. There will be more. A competitive league like the NBA necessitates a zig while our competitors comfortably zag,” Hinkie wrote. “We often chose not to defend ourselves against much of the criticism, largely in an effort to stay true to the ideal of having the longest view in the room. Given all the changes to our organization, I no longer have the confidence that I can make good decisions on behalf of investors in the Sixers — you. So I should step down. And I have.”
Love him or hate him, Hinkie was certainly a GM cut from a different cloth than most. His plan of rebuilding through bottoming out was met with much derision around the league, but Hinkie was steadfast in his belief in “the process.” It remains to be seen how the young assets and future draft picks Hinkie accumulated during his tenure will pan out, as well as who will receive the bulk of the credit should Philadelphia turn things around in the near future. It does appear that better things are on the horizon for the Sixers, who are awaiting the NBA debuts of Joel Embiid and Dario Saric, both of whom were draft picks of Hinkie’s. Plus, Jerry Colangelo has indicated that the team intends to be active on the free agent market this offseason, which is likely music to coach Brett Brown‘s ears, seeing as how he’s been saddled with rosters of D-League quality throughout his time in Philly.
Now it’s time for today’s topic: How would you grade Sam Hinkie’s tenure in Philadelphia?
If you are going to judge Hinkie strictly on wins, the result won’t be pretty. After all, managing just 47 wins in three seasons is certainly not a statistic one would place at the top of a résumé. But there is far more to rebuilding a team than short-term gains, and it is in the big picture where Hinkie needs to be judged. Will the collection of young big men and future draft picks he acquired allow Philadelphia to become a perennial power in the near future? Or do you believe Hinkie squandered those picks and set the franchise back even further with the players he chose? Take to the comments section to share your thoughts, vent your frustrations or defend the former GM’s actions. We look forward to what you have to say.
Incomplete: ownership didn’t let him complete the Process
As critical as I’ve been of Hinkie, I actually think he should have been given 9 more months. Why? The tear down actually starts to look like a re-build this year. They could have TWO top-5 picks, a total of 4 1st Rounders, Dario Saric coming over, Embiid hitting the floor and underwhelming but still young assets Noel and Okafor to dangle in trades, not to mention an ocean of cap space.
He has, unquestionably, whiffed on his 3 drafts (to be fair…that could change). So I can see the argument he’s not to be trusted to run yet another draft (I had a dream of Philadelphia burning to the ground the instant we hear Adam Silver say “..And with the next pick of the 2016 NBA draft, the Philadelphia 76ers select Jacob Poeltl. Center. University of Utah” )
But he’s going to be sick and wow, how bittersweet it’ll be, if the ping pong balls bounce their way, they land Ben Simmons at #1 and Kris Dunn at #4 with the Lakers pick, add Dario Saric and Joel Embiid, sign a young Free Agent wing lets say Jordan Clarskon for argument’s sake…and….suddenly…POOF! That’s 7
Dunn
Clarkson-Saric
Simmons
Embiid
Noel-Okafor
Even if the ping pong balls miss Ingram & Simmons, they could get
Jamal Murray
Clarkson-Saric
Jaylen Brown (from LAL)
Embiid
Noel-Okafor
Plus Brice Johnson and Demetrius Jackson late in the 1st round (or whomever) and voila, thats NINE kids all under what, age 22/23.
* One more year, man. One more year. *
C at best. He said wait for ‘the process’ but made sure ear questionable moves. Not only had he traded a Allstar and rookie of the year point guard, but also drafted 3 centers who’s style of play everyone knew would clash with each other. He got plenty of future draft picks though and got some promising players. I also think Brett brown was a great hire too. So he did bad but he didn’t leave the team in shambles like Billy king did in Brooklyn
Typos: some* not sure ear
Point guards plural
Here’s my Hinkie Report Card:
> Philosophical approach and innovation: A
> Selecting a Head coach to match the philosophy: A
> Positioning the franchise with a healthy cap and set of assets: B
> Identifying and selecting young talent: D+
> Architecting a roster to develop young talent: F
> Engaging stakeholders, communicating and managing expectations: F
I would argue he identified and selected talent to the best of his ability given the picks Phila ended up with via the lottery.
Agreed. Those top 3 guys all were projected to go one and there is nobody behind Noel and Embiid that are great players directly behind them in each draft.
His latter lottery picks were also good. Saric was a good selection and MCW was rookie of the year and got flipped for a pick that will probably be better.
He was selected nba players in the second round such as MdDaniels, Grant and Holmes. (Also Russ smith and Pierre Jackson who tore up DLeague ) Hinkie also found undrafted talent a la Covington and McConnel. I also liked his moved to acquire talented players but haven’t worked out: Stauskas, Royce White and Marshal.
How is it a B for assets and cap space. Literally the most picks and space around the league.
He doesn’t even have the most cap space, I don’t even think the sixers are in the top three for cap space
More then 55 mil.
Tough to grade, it was fairly well established when he was hired that this could be a 5 year rebuild, however I would say at year 3 you would hope they would have more to show. I am all for selecting the BAP, but drafting 3 centers is a puzzling move. I give him credit for the MCW trade, while MCW was the only perimeter player Hinkie drafted, I would argue he got the best value he could for the PG. Point Guards that cant shoot aren’t overly valuable, and even though MCW might have been able to improve his stroke playing for a team that would give him a plethora of minutes (opposed to eventually being benched for a team trying win a playoff spot), you certainly cant say the Bucks would get equal value if they moved him today. This is countered, however, due to the fact that they will have to eventually move a big (or two), and they certainly wont get equal value for whoever it ends up being. I give Hinkie a C+. I dont think things are looking up the 76ers with Colangelo at the helms. I have feeling he’s going to use some cap space this summer, which means likely overpaying for mediocre talent (simply to get them to sign) and then being a mediocre team that doesn’t have the draft positioning or the cap space to take the next step. However they may have the assets, and thats where Hinkie really helped them.
Agree with Incomplete. Love the bold move from mediocrity. But hard to tell if it’s been successful because the process wasn’t done. A true outside scorer, and this team is suddenly legit.
Hinkie gets an A, he did exactly what he said he’d do
76ers get a giant F for not letting him finish what everyone knew was a five year rebuild.
Also F to all these professional “anaalysts” who agree with this move. Everyone hates on the Kings for being consistently mediocre but still going for the playoffs every year, but when Hinkie decides to not be mediocre and go championship or bust he gets hate too?
76ers gonna blow a great rebuilding effort which was about to enter its peak, potentially four first round picks, plus Embiid and Saric coming??? What is the
plan now? Trade all those assets for aging vets and go for the 8th seed next year? Elite free agents weren’t coming before and they’re still not, trade for an elite player and he’ll just leave in free agency. 76ers are gonna be the next Kings/Nets/Knicks, always fighting for 8th with no dream of a championship. Hell, they already lost their best asset and most innovative GM in the league
Let’s go by his moves generally.
All the 2nd round picks = B
Lakers Top-3 protected = A-
Kings Top-10 protected = B-
Heat & Thunder Mid-20s = B-
2013 NBA Draft – Noel & MCW = A-
2014 NBA Draft – Embiid & Saric = D
2015 NBA Draft – Okafor = B+
2016 Cap Space – 54 M = A
Overall = B
How is getting the kings pick a B-? He gave up nothing for a pick and rights to swap picks with a yearly lottery team and got their lottery pick from a year ago. That’s an A.
Also look at every mock draft. Embiid was projected to go 1 in most before injury. Look at the dudes behind him. Gordon, Exum, Smart, Randle, Stauskas, Vonleh, Payton. No great maybe even good players there. I’d take Embiid and his potential in that moment and probably today still over those guys. Plus Saric looks pretty Good.
Considering Embiid has yet to even play a game, I would argue that Smart and Gordon are definetly better at this point (and Gordon would probably fit better alongside all the other bigs) while Payton and Exum would’ve been better fits since they can play the point. At this point, Embiid is worse than Oden.
If you’re going to go with a plan as out of the box as Hinkie’s, you have to commit. I was critical early on, but after two years of horrible basketball, you might as well wait it out and see if this strategy works. He needed two more years to really get a team on the upswing.
I’d give his tenure a B. He shot for the stars; he went for it all. Yet, he played the numbers game and basically, Hinkie needed a larger sample size to produce. It’ll make a great case study down the road.
Also, I love the 13 page resignation as a poetic ending to his tenure.
F
Nobody wants to play for the 76ers, they are a joke. F
Agents are openly talking about steering their players to other franchises. F
No player development whatsoever. F
A team that gets worse in a never ending quest for the “it” guy while alienating and embarrassing the current roster. F
Very likely Noel and Okafor walk at the end of thier rookie deals. Soon to be a bigger F.
Yeah, stop drinking the cool aid and move on. Hinkie will not get another GM job mostly because his brilliant process fails to understand the basics of a “lottery.”
Trade okafor for kyrie draft Simmons or Ingram and sign two top tier free agents and we gonna be straight
I’d grade him a B-. He did a good job at what he planned to do, and the Sixers will have a good young core once this year’s picks are made, with Saric coming over from Turkey and after 1 or more of the 3 bigs are traded. It’s not his fault the ping pong balls didn’t serve up a Wiggins or Russell. I was on board with the process as long as the tanking ended with this season, looks like I got my wish but not as intended. Hope Colangelo turns out better than fellow “basketball people” retreads Rod Thorn or Billy King…
Some of these replies are insane. People saying ownership didn’t let him complete the process…he resigned. His process was so bad owners around the league petitioned the commissioner to step in and do something about the 76ers, as they were ruining the league with their inferior play and players.
Hinkie decimated the franchise, alienated the fan base, aggravated agents, lied to players and their agents, and yet some of these folks on here still saying that he needed more time. 3 years is/was more than enough of this foolery. He gets an F- and should never be allowed to set foot in an NBA front office again in his lifetime. His 13 page letter is a joke, and simply put he is disturbed.