Happy trails to Hinkie's Power.

[oldtype]

I'm assuming he decided to walk after hearing that Colangelo was bringing in his son. Writing's been on the wall for a whole now.

[jdz101]

Hinkie has resigned.

Wow.  He seemed relatively upbeat and optimistic when he went on Lowe's show recently.


That guy should get another gig.  He sounded to me like he had a good philosophy and a good head for the GM position.

We must've been watching different teams the past couple of years.

[LarBrd33]

Lowe is a fantastic journalist. He controlled the interview in the exact way he needed to extract as much from Hinkie as possible. That split second of silence when he asked "is it a problem that you don't have that player (a superstar prospect) yet?" was absolutely priceless.

I got the feeling that Hinkie is quite resentful of the Celtics, particularly regarding the flak he's getting for routing Isaiah to us instead of including him in the package he got from Phoenix. He came off at quite bitter: he doesn't think it's fair that he's being painted as a failure already and he's got a great deal of conviction that he'll still be vindicated in the end.

Reading between the lines, I think Embiid's medical issues are looking fairly grim ("he's either going to be a superstar or never play in the NBA"), and the Sixers really have no clue with Saric ("we don't really have one person in charge of talking to him...").

I think the 76ers are set up to have the last laugh there.

Signs are looking very positive with Embiid.  I agree, if the guy plays he'll end up a superstar.  The only way he doesn't end up a superstar is if he never plays... but signs point to him playing.

So many assets.  A competent GM will be able to easily turn that into a competitive team.  At this point, the casual fans that don't get it aren't going to get it.  They'll just have to wait and be dumfounded when suddenly Hinkie's seeds turn into an Orchard. 

[Eddie20]

Lowe is a fantastic journalist. He controlled the interview in the exact way he needed to extract as much from Hinkie as possible. That split second of silence when he asked "is it a problem that you don't have that player (a superstar prospect) yet?" was absolutely priceless.

I got the feeling that Hinkie is quite resentful of the Celtics, particularly regarding the flak he's getting for routing Isaiah to us instead of including him in the package he got from Phoenix. He came off at quite bitter: he doesn't think it's fair that he's being painted as a failure already and he's got a great deal of conviction that he'll still be vindicated in the end.

Reading between the lines, I think Embiid's medical issues are looking fairly grim ("he's either going to be a superstar or never play in the NBA"), and the Sixers really have no clue with Saric ("we don't really have one person in charge of talking to him...").

I think the 76ers are set up to have the last laugh there.

Signs are looking very positive with Embiid.  I agree, if the guy plays he'll end up a superstar.  The only way he doesn't end up a superstar is if he never plays... but signs point to him playing.

So many assets.  A competent GM will be able to easily turn that into a competitive team.  At this point, the casual fans that don't get it aren't going to get it.  They'll just have to wait and be dumfounded when suddenly Hinkie's seeds turn into an Orchard.

Dude, c'mon. Know when to concede defeat. Hinkie just did. You should follow suit.

[Vox_Populi]

Larbrd right again.

[jdz101]

Lowe is a fantastic journalist. He controlled the interview in the exact way he needed to extract as much from Hinkie as possible. That split second of silence when he asked "is it a problem that you don't have that player (a superstar prospect) yet?" was absolutely priceless.

I got the feeling that Hinkie is quite resentful of the Celtics, particularly regarding the flak he's getting for routing Isaiah to us instead of including him in the package he got from Phoenix. He came off at quite bitter: he doesn't think it's fair that he's being painted as a failure already and he's got a great deal of conviction that he'll still be vindicated in the end.

Reading between the lines, I think Embiid's medical issues are looking fairly grim ("he's either going to be a superstar or never play in the NBA"), and the Sixers really have no clue with Saric ("we don't really have one person in charge of talking to him...").

I think the 76ers are set up to have the last laugh there.

Signs are looking very positive with Embiid.  I agree, if the guy plays he'll end up a superstar.  The only way he doesn't end up a superstar is if he never plays... but signs point to him playing.

So many assets.  A competent GM will be able to easily turn that into a competitive team.  At this point, the casual fans that don't get it aren't going to get it.  They'll just have to wait and be dumfounded when suddenly Hinkie's seeds turn into an Orchard.

Hahahaha. I'll give you all my tommy points if Embiid becomes a stud player. Dudes body is cooked.

[esel1000]

Sixers fans are having a meltdown on their board... According to Woj Jerry is targeting his son Bryan. Their fans are livid.

[Eddie20]

Hinkie has resigned.

That guy should get another gig.  He sounded to me like he had a good philosophy and a good head for the GM position.

0 for 3....

He won't get another GM job.

His good philosophy has caused the team to go 19-63, 18-64, and so far this season 10-68. So there is actually evidence to suggest the roster has regressed.

Mr. Charisma looked very uncomfortable and even acknowledged that Colangelo told him he needed to be more open to doing interviews, which is why he did Lowe interview. As the face of the franchise you have a responsibility to address situations and not be a recluse.

[Eddie20]

http://deadspin.com/76ers-hire-jerry-colangelo-whats-it-mean-for-the-proce-1746737379

Lol that article just summed up my reaction:

A Hinkie stan could—and Hinkie stans definitely will—argue that this is nothing but a cosmetic move, meant to improve the public face of an organization that has, because of a cynical, protracted tanking campaign, run afoul of GMs and agents across the league. (As it turns out, agents don’t really like teams that waive guys without a word of warning and have no interest in spending money on real NBA talent.) The thinking here is that Colangelo is just there to talk nice to the rest of the league while Hinkie continues to perform his dark magicks in the shadows.

I think that's exactly what just happened.  It's a PR move.  "ok guys, our bad... no more tanking!"...

Do you still think that's "exactly what happened"? Is Hinkie still calling the shots in even darker shadows?

[LarBrd33]

Lowe is a fantastic journalist. He controlled the interview in the exact way he needed to extract as much from Hinkie as possible. That split second of silence when he asked "is it a problem that you don't have that player (a superstar prospect) yet?" was absolutely priceless.

I got the feeling that Hinkie is quite resentful of the Celtics, particularly regarding the flak he's getting for routing Isaiah to us instead of including him in the package he got from Phoenix. He came off at quite bitter: he doesn't think it's fair that he's being painted as a failure already and he's got a great deal of conviction that he'll still be vindicated in the end.

Reading between the lines, I think Embiid's medical issues are looking fairly grim ("he's either going to be a superstar or never play in the NBA"), and the Sixers really have no clue with Saric ("we don't really have one person in charge of talking to him...").

I think the 76ers are set up to have the last laugh there.

Signs are looking very positive with Embiid.  I agree, if the guy plays he'll end up a superstar.  The only way he doesn't end up a superstar is if he never plays... but signs point to him playing.

So many assets.  A competent GM will be able to easily turn that into a competitive team.  At this point, the casual fans that don't get it aren't going to get it.  They'll just have to wait and be dumfounded when suddenly Hinkie's seeds turn into an Orchard.

Dude, c'mon. Know when to concede defeat. Hinkie just did. You should follow suit.

I've had soooo many conversations about Philly on this forum and I've always tried to be pretty clear in my stance on them.   My opinion gets twisted a lot.  I've reiterated the same points dozens of times.  You've seen them.   But I'll go ahead and reiterate them again.

- Never cared about Hinkie.  As far as I know, he was hired with the goal of tanking.  Philly was in "superstar or bust" mode before Hinkie came on... hence going after risky guys like Andrew Bynum.   

- I'm perfectly happy to see Philly fall on their face.  I've never been a 76er fan.

- I think Hinkie did a fine job collecting assets, but I never felt there was anything SPECIAL about what he was doing.  What he did didn't take genius.  I've never seen Hinkie as an equal to Danny Ainge.   What was SPECIAL was that the team was allowing and encouraging a shameless tank job.  We've never seen a team so shamelessly go into "superstar or bust" mode.  We've never seen a team so blatantly tank for such a prolonged period of time.  We've never seen a team basically say, "this system is rigged and encourages losing... so as long as this system encourages losing, let's lose for as long as we can".   They decided to run that team like you'd run a team in franchise mode on a video game... But in a video game, you have the luxury of simming full seasons in minutes without the media backlash.   That was fascinating to me.  I've never really cared about Hinkie.  I always saw Hinkie as a puppet.  He was hired to do collect assets and "let it ride", and he did a fine job at it.

I personally followed the same strategy in the Lucky17 Points League/CBPL.   I joined that keeper league 7 years into their existence.  The team I took over had finished in the lottery all 7 years and was currently bottom 5 in a 20 league team.   I took over in Jan 2014.  This was right around the time that I was desperate for Boston to bottom out and go for a star prospect in the 2014 draft.   So, I followed the same exact method I take every time I start a video game franchise mode.   I traded away every single player for prospects and draft picks.  I intentionally bottomed out 2 years in a row.   This Summer, I converted all of those assets into real tangible players.  My team subsequently steamrolled the entire league.  I coasted to a championship, put up a league record 32,363 points.  My team had an average age of 24 and was set up to dominate for the next 10-15 years.  The level of domination was so thorough that half the league threatened to quit unless I was removed.  I'm told that the juggernaut I put together will be dismantled with the players distributed to the bottom-tier teams in need of bail outs. 

Point is, I could follow that shameless "wait until next year" strategy in a fantasy league.  I didn't have fans and media to answer to.  You can do that in a video game.  But not until the recent Philadelphia 76ers have we seen a team follow that strategy in the real world.  Take guys like Noel and let him sit for a year.   Trade guys like Michael Carter Williams for draft picks that might end up in the top 4.    Draft Elfrid Payton and trade him away for Dario Saric and a future 1st with the expectation of Saric playing overseas.   Literally spend $0 on competent free agent veterans in favor of trying out D-League players that help the team continue to lose.  Allow a roster to be so lopsided and mismatched with no intention of fixing it in the short-term.   We haven't seen something so blatant before.

And it was fascinating.  It's still fascinating.  As much as ignorant fans want to believe otherwise, this story is far from over.  It's just entering the next phase.  This signals that they are done collecting assets - now they will try to turn it into a team.  Respected basketball minds like Zach Lowe and Charles Barkley back up this stance.   Philly is loaded with assets, they have some very interesting prospects and tons of options heading forward.   We will not know how this plays out for a few years.  Guys like Barkley have commented that the team is set up very well heading forward and he's right.   They have valuable pieces that can be traded for roster balance.

They are set up beautifully.   This offseason could be massive for them.   I've repeatedly said that this would be a dream job for a smart GM.  It's a DREAM job.  You can take over a team loaded with assets and young prospects, spend some cash on young guys on the promise of a "new team identity", trade the two centers you don't want for equally outstanding prospects at different positions...   It has basically everything a GM could want from a team.  Youth, draft picks, cap space, potentially franchise prospects. 

I had no idea of Hinkie would be the guy for that job, though.  Would he be the right guy to take the next step?  He did a fine job amassing the assets, but would he make the right moves heading forward?  Would he sell low on Okafor?  Would he make bad signings?   No freakin idea.  I've never at any point claimed to know if Hinkie was a competent GM in that regard. 

Sounds like Philly is making the right move.  The Colangelo's are highly regarded.  As they head into this potentially epic offseason for them, it's good to give the allure of a "fresh start" and a "winning mentality".   Hinkie probably hurt that perception.   Now they can engage in good-faith conversations with agents on the premise of, "Hey I know Hinkie snubbed you and the team was a mess, but now we have a totally new agenda.  Things are different!".   Hinkie leaving is probably for the best. 

I've said a couple times before that I expect at least 4 of the top 6 players next season aren't playing for them right now.   It remains a fascinating situation.  Especially depending on how lucky they get in the lotto. 

Truth be told, there was a time when I would have gladly swapped Boston's roster for Philly's.   I stand by the belief that Philly's assets are underrated. A lot of people still believe in Saric. I think Noel is a stud.  I believe Embiid still has a huge future if the bonegraft works out as well as it did for Durant and Lopez.  I think they'll have tons of trade options.  There is a real chance they end up with picks #1 and #4 in this draft.   They have several additional 1st round picks to utilize.   There was a time when I would have gladly taken that over "Marcus Smart + a pick that may or may not end up in the lotto".    To be fair, I have to point out that my opinion has changed since then.  There's a lot of factors as to why.   #1 - I believe Boston has a legitimate shot at Kevin Durant and Al Horford this summer primarily because of how well they have played and their strong foundation/management/ownership/coaching.   #2 - The Brooklyn pick has exceeded all expectations.  Their lack of depth was exposed by injuries and the team struggled mightily all season.  While the Philly pick is a lock for top 4, the lotto could bless us.   #3 - Players like Jae Crowder and Isaiah Thomas have taken leaps.  The trade value of guys like Avery Bradley have taken positive hits as well.  These can't be ignored.   Point is, there was a time when Philly's assets were legitimately more valuable than ours.   The basketball gods have been kind to us, though.  I'd take Boston's roster over it now.    Granted, 6 months from now if Boston strikes out in free agency, Embiid proves to be the prospect we all thought and Philly lands Ben Simmons in the draft, I'm not going to lie about my updated opinions on the roster value just because of my Celtic fandom.   THese things fluctuate.   Right now, Boston looks set up better than any team in the league.   I still think a smart GM will be able to turn Philly into a beast as well, though.    It's going to be very very interesting to watch what happens here.   

I stand by my stance that a competent GM will be able to easily turn Philly into a competitive team.  I had no idea if Hinkie was that guy.   I'm sure if Colangelo succeeds, people will act shocked and say he did a brilliant job "turning it around", but I genuinely think it's a dream scenario for any GM.   Taking over Philly is basically "Easy Mode".  It's only up from here. 

[oldtype]

I think he'd be a really good hire for the Knicks. He can handle the day to day while Phil Jackson acts as the public face and rehabilitates Hinkie's relationships with agents and other teams.

Assuming that he's learned his lessons from Philly, he'd be perfect for building a new team around Porzingis.

[LarBrd33]

http://deadspin.com/76ers-hire-jerry-colangelo-whats-it-mean-for-the-proce-1746737379

Lol that article just summed up my reaction:

A Hinkie stan could—and Hinkie stans definitely will—argue that this is nothing but a cosmetic move, meant to improve the public face of an organization that has, because of a cynical, protracted tanking campaign, run afoul of GMs and agents across the league. (As it turns out, agents don’t really like teams that waive guys without a word of warning and have no interest in spending money on real NBA talent.) The thinking here is that Colangelo is just there to talk nice to the rest of the league while Hinkie continues to perform his dark magicks in the shadows.

I think that's exactly what just happened.  It's a PR move.  "ok guys, our bad... no more tanking!"...

Do you still think that's "exactly what happened"? Is Hinkie still calling the shots in even darker shadows?

Hinkie was always a bigger deal to naysayers than people like myself who were actually intrigued by Philly and saw what they were doing.  It was Philly's strategy.  Hinkie was the guy they hired to execute it.   You can't do the kind of stuff he was able to do without approval of ownership.   

When Colangelo was hired this year it was met with ridiculous comments like, "The tank is over!! The league is stepping in!".  I didn't believe it then and I still don't believe it.   Proof:



They are guaranteed to finish with the worst record in the league.  Jack squat changed.  They still finished out the tank as expected.  They still have that Ben Simmons draft pick.  They still have that Laker pick if it falls outside the top 3.   They still have the Okafor/Embiid/Noel situation to deal with.

They did nothing unless you count signing Elton Brand and trading for Ish Smith.

So yes, I do believe it was mostly PR timing.  It coincided with massive backlash from the league.   Suddenly they hire Colangelo and everyone shuts up until they finished out the tank job. 

I frankly don't care if Hinkie was there or not.  It's the organization plan that intrigued me, not the guy taking the heat.  It's besides the point.   This probably works out better for Philly than had Hinkie remained, because now Philly can 100% pretend that organization has shifted their strategy.  Now they can use Hinkie as a scapegoat and pretend like they were never on board with the shameless tanking.   Now when they meet with free agents this Summer, they can sell them on the new vision of COlangelo.   That works better with Hinkie gone. 

But as a cynic, I don't believe it for a second.   Philly was always on board with this strategy.  They ultimately will benefit from the strategy.  They ultimately were ALWAYS going to end the "tank mode"/"asset acquisition" stage to enter the "team building" stage.  It probably would have happened this Summer had they not opted to have a bonegraft for Embiid.  At every point this season, I've 100% expected them to tank out the remainder of the season and shift into "team building" phase this Summer.  Not surprisingly, it's happening.   It still would have happened had Hinkie stayed. 

Whether or not he stays misses the point, though.  Fans like you are buying into the idea that it was HInkie and Hinkie alone that set these wheels into motion and that Philly's ownership shouldn't take heat for it.   That works out wonderfully for Philly.  You're allowing them to make their puppet the scape goat for a plan they signed off on and executed.  They took it as far as they could.   Time to cash in.  It'll be interesting to see how well it works.     

[Emmette Bryant]

http://www.si.com/nba/2016/04/06/sam-hinkie-philadelphia-76ers-gm-steps-down

http://deadspin.com/report-sam-hinkie-has-left-the-sixers-1769517276

[knuckleballer]

It might work out for Philly in the long run, but I hope not.  Three years of intentionally putrid basketball is unacceptable to me.  It's not fair to the fans or the players on the team. 

[Eddie20]

http://deadspin.com/76ers-hire-jerry-colangelo-whats-it-mean-for-the-proce-1746737379

Lol that article just summed up my reaction:

A Hinkie stan could—and Hinkie stans definitely will—argue that this is nothing but a cosmetic move, meant to improve the public face of an organization that has, because of a cynical, protracted tanking campaign, run afoul of GMs and agents across the league. (As it turns out, agents don’t really like teams that waive guys without a word of warning and have no interest in spending money on real NBA talent.) The thinking here is that Colangelo is just there to talk nice to the rest of the league while Hinkie continues to perform his dark magicks in the shadows.

I think that's exactly what just happened.  It's a PR move.  "ok guys, our bad... no more tanking!"...

Do you still think that's "exactly what happened"? Is Hinkie still calling the shots in even darker shadows?

Hinkie was always a bigger deal to naysayers than people like myself who were actually intrigued by Philly and saw what they were doing.  It was Philly's strategy.  Hinkie was the guy they hired to execute it.   You can't do the kind of stuff he was able to do without approval of ownership.   

When Colangelo was hired this year it was met with ridiculous comments like, "The tank is over!! The league is stepping in!".  I didn't believe it then and I still don't believe it.   Proof:



They are guaranteed to finish with the worst record in the league.  Jack squat changed.  They still finished out the tank as expected.  They still have that Ben Simmons draft pick.  They still have that Laker pick if it falls outside the top 3.   They still have the Okafor/Embiid/Noel situation to deal with.

They did nothing unless you count signing Elton Brand and trading for Ish Smith.

So yes, I do believe it was mostly PR timing.  It coincided with massive backlash from the league.   Suddenly they hire Colangelo and everyone shuts up until they finished out the tank job. 

I frankly don't care if Hinkie was there or not.  It's the organization plan that intrigued me, not the guy taking the heat.  It's besides the point.   This probably works out better for Philly than had Hinkie remained, because now Philly can 100% pretend that organization has shifted their strategy.  Now they can use Hinkie as a scapegoat and pretend like they were never on board with the shameless tanking.   Now when they meet with free agents this Summer, they can sell them on the new vision of COlangelo.   That works better with Hinkie gone. 

But as a cynic, I don't believe it for a second.   Philly was always on board with this strategy.  They ultimately will benefit from the strategy.  They ultimately were ALWAYS going to end the "tank mode"/"asset acquisition" stage to enter the "team building" stage.  It probably would have happened this Summer had they not opted to have a bonegraft for Embiid.  At every point this season, I've 100% expected them to tank out the remainder of the season and shift into "team building" phase this Summer.  Not surprisingly, it's happening.   It still would have happened had Hinkie stayed. 

Whether or not he stays misses the point, though.  Fans like you are buying into the idea that it was HInkie and Hinkie alone that set these wheels into motion and that Philly's ownership shouldn't take heat for it.   That works out wonderfully for Philly.  You're allowing them to make their puppet the scape goat for a plan they signed off on and executed.  They took it as far as they could.   Time to cash in.  It'll be interesting to see how well it works.   

You're throwing out white noise while avoiding my point. Your initial thought was that it was a PR move/publicity stunt and Hinkie was still in command. 4 months later the neutered Hinkie is gone. So since you aren't ever wrong about Philly, isn't safe to say you were 100% wrong about that and the Colangelo hiring was the beginning of the end?