Former Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie, the architect of “The Process,” said he’s “stoked” to see his longtime friend and former boss Daryl Morey take over as the new president of basketball operations in Philadelphia. However, Hinkie himself won’t be returning to the franchise in a role under Morey, as he told Pablo Torre on the ESPN Daily podcast.
“Zero,” Hinkie said when asked by Torre for the odds that he’ll join Morey in the Sixers’ front office (hat tip to RealGM). “I’ve turned that chapter for sure. That part of my life. I very much like what I’m doing now. I like surrounding myself with people who think in sort of the time frames I do, which is often longer. That are quite comfortable with long feedback loops. That want to do the kinds of things I do, which is bet on young people and watch them flourish.”
Hinkie, who is running a venture capital firm known as Eighty-Seven Capital, offered the same response when asked by Torre for the odds that he’ll return to an NBA front office in any capacity.
“Zero. Zero,” he said. “The same.”
The head of basketball operations in Philadelphia for three years from 2013-16, Hinkie took an extreme approach to the Sixers’ rebuild, as the team bottomed out to previously unforeseen lows while stockpiling future assets.
The 76ers posted a record of 47-199 (.191) during Hinkie’s tenure, culminating with a 10-72 showing in 2015/16. However, Philadelphia also drafted future All-NBA center Joel Embiid in 2014 and positioned itself to select Ben Simmons in 2016, shortly after Hinkie’s departure from the franchise.
Prior to his arrival in Philadelphia, Hinkie worked in the Rockets’ front office under Morey from 2005-13. He hasn’t held an NBA job since leaving the Sixers though, and his comments to Torre indicate he doesn’t expect to ever do so again.
Hinkie was OK but i find it fascinating that everyone focuses on the tank job and not the draft choices. All that tanking just to get Joel Embiid??
The current regime is certainly bad but they wouldn’t have ruined the foundation so quickly if the org had a stronger one to begin with.
They had like 2-3 drafts they wiffed on with high picks and didn’t get much for them. 2013: Noel(2 second rounders) and MCW (would turn into lakers pick which would eventually turn into Fultz) 2016 : Jalil Okafor 2017: Fultz.
Don’t forget they traded Jrue Holiday for Nerlens Noel so it wasn’t just a bad draft choice.
Oh I didn’t, but he was gonna leave before we were gonna resign him so I find it kinda a moot point. But yeah that trade marked the start of the teardown for me.
Jrue was entering year 1 of a 4 year extension when that trade went down.And he signed another extension in New Orleans.Its debatable whether or not he would’ve ended up leaving Philly.
It was a good plan, I thought. The execution was just poor. If they had drafted even just a little better than Hinke is probably still in Philadelphia.
??? Hinkie isn’t gone because of poor drafting??? He is gone because of Adam Silver who hated the process, who then forced the Colangelo’s on us…they nearly destroyed every asset that Hinkie stockpiled.
I hope the Sixers win so they can make a documentary about this guy. The Process Sixers is an interesting saga but they need to win to make it meaningful
What was the last franchise to win a championship with two homegrown stars? Golden States first championship was the only one the last 20 years? If Embiid and Simmons win then it was worth it.
Spurs did
Ahhh yes
I mean Lakers had future HOF guys in Kuzma and Caruso
Technically the Cavs did with LeBron and Kyrie, but since LeBron played with the Heat in between it might not still be considered “homegrown”
West 5 major basketball cities GM best to worst ranking past 20 years
IMO
Spurs GM
Lakers GM
Warriors GM
Mavs GM
Rockets GM – second biggest city and does nothing
I miss the 76ers having random guys that looked like they were playing at the local gym on their roster
Blame Adam Silver for sabotaging his job and making him never want to return.
I blame Silver for anything these days
Good. He should be banned from the NBA for life for ruining the integrity of the game.
Do you feel the same of Kevin McHail?
Or, change the way the draft works and make it a rotating system so every team is equal and eventually will have the top pick. Tanking wouldn’t change anything for your order of draft choice. No incentive to tank. You would know years ahead what position your draft picks would be.
I don’t think we need to go that far. I think a simple inversion of the lottery would work much better. Meaning the team with the BEST record that misses the playoffs gets the best odds and the team with the worst record gets the worst.
1. It would give meaning to the end of the year game for teams out of the playoffs.
2. It would make for very entertaining playoff races where the losing team in the race for the 8 seed would arguably end up better off than the winner.
3. It would help incoming rookies because the best rookies would end up with teams closest to the playoffs. Last year it wouldn’t have mattered other than Zion and Ja would have changed places, but most years the top rookie would go to teams with 39 wins instead of 12 wins.
4. It would help the NBA because they could market those top rookies if they were part of the 6, 7, or 8 seed. Next generation vs old guard marketing of sorts. Could be very compelling.
5. It would allow mid first rounders to organically grow and get more opportunity to play with the worst teams. Perhaps allowing for more diamonds in the rough to emerge.
6. Most importantly, it would end tanking forever
Then your bad teams would never get off the bottom. Late lottery selections occasionally yield gems, but if you’re continually rotating through low-end NBA starters you have no upward mobility when you’re handing the almost playoff teams the stars.
There is nothing wrong with ‘tanking’ in my view. It only has a stigma because of the name attached.
It ruins the integrity of the game. If one team is not trying their best to win, what is point of even playing the game?
Besides, right now teams have no reason to get off the bottom until they get stacked. Right now it is better for teams to win 15, 15, 15, and then 50. This way, it would benefit to gradually get better winning 15, 25, 35, 50.
So the worst team in the league would get the 14th pick. How would they gradually get better? You are the worst team, you draft Tim Duncan or LeBron and amazing things can happen. Drafting instead Maurice Taylor or Luke Ridenour (the 14th picks in 1997 and 2003) surely won’t move the needle.
But then 8th seed teams would probably tank out of the playoffs, since a draft pick is better than getting swept by the 1 seed.
If they are going to have the mindset that they don’t have a chance anyway, then they don’t deserve to be in the playoffs at all anyway. The whole point of playing in this league is to win the championship, not get a high draft pick.
Getting a high draft pick makes it easier to a win a championship
Teams at the bottom would just have to earn their way back up.And the bubble playoff teams could go from being on the bubble,to being a contender,alot quicker than those teams on the bottom too.And those teams are usually trying to win,as well as spending more than the tanking teams.And tell a owner in the middle of a playoff race,”we have a shot at the 8th seed and a little extra revenue,but we can’t beat the top seed,so we’re just gonna work on losing out”….The game is the game,and teams and players should always try their best to win.How often do these “tanking” teams win? Lakers and Heat don’t tank.Cleveland had that run of top picks,still took a LeBron return to even make the playoffs.When the Celtics tanked,they moved to get vets.Look around the league,alot of winning goes on from teams led by players drafted outside of the top 5.Lebron and Duncan’s drafts were used as examples,how about that 96 draft,who won out of Allen Iverson,Marcus Camby and Kobe Bryant….Teams that try but can’t get over the hump should be rewarded more than teams that load up on low level talent and lose on purpose.
Fairest way don’t favor bottom teams or top teams in the lotto… just give all 14 teams the same chance, all get 1 ball, only 14 balls on play!
That way #8 seeds wouldn’t tank out of playoffs, teams just missing the playoffs wouldn’t make sure to miss them & bottom teams would have zero incentive to lose!
You would create as plain level field as possible, at least I think so!
Don’t forget Okafor, Hinkie took Okafor!
The thing is, I would take Hinkie over any of he clowns that succeeded him.
Although he did pick Brown the Clown for head coach!
SMH