The Sixer Sense
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Is Sam Hinkie Hurting The Sixers’ Chances At A Big Deal?

By Josh Wilson

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According to a report by Keith Pompey of Philly.com, the Philadelphia 76ers’ general manager Sam Hinkie has been a bit looked down on by player agents. It’s no secret that he’s unconventional, but being disliked by player agents? That’s a new interesting strategy, to say the least.

No, really, it’s definitely not intentional. At least, it’s not as far as we know. Reportedly, Hinkie is disliked because of his unconventional ways, but there’s more to it, and it comes down to courtesy. Hinkie doesn’t return some agents’ calls, which is seen as a big no-no in the sports industry (especially for bigger name agents), and is disliked because of how he has handled staying away from veterans looking from work in the past.

Pompey’s article reports that when Michael Carter-Williams was drafted, he had tons of calls (more than 30) regarding veterans that were out of work looking to join the team because of the potential they saw in Carter-Williams. The appeal level of a veteran looking for work to play alongside the young Carter-Williams was high.

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Not only that, but the rebuild can be scary to some players and their agents. Agents want their players to get what they want (otherwise they lose their jobs). Therefore, if the players want to win, then they’re not going to want to give their players a contract on a team that is practicing an unproven way of rebuilding.

But is this going to impact the rebuild? Does Hinkie actually need to keep a stable relationship with player agents to succeed? The answer is yes and no.

Right now, no. It doesn’t matter because the Sixers aren’t expecting to win, and neither are players that are interested in signing with them. Players are taking less money for their work, and no one is going to the Sixers yet because they want to win. He’s not signing players who can win now, he’s signing players who have upside, and who can win later.

That’s how they got Kendall Marshall (although he got a decent sized contract). His injury left him with few teams interested in him, despite the upside he may have.

Other players the Sixers have signed over the past year or so (their longest tenured player has only been on the team for three years, everyone is fairly new) are much of the same. They are players with upside, but no immediate large NBA value.

So it might not matter now, but in the long term, when the Sixers are going to be competitive (and they are!), and they need that final guy to pull everything together, they’re going to need an agent of that player (likely a reputable agent, if the player is really going to contribute to winning) to want to do business with Hinkie.

A player may want to go to the Sixers, and the Sixers may want said specific player, but the agent could be the deciding factor. He could push a player away from the Sixers while they’re thinking, “Oh, I really don’t want to deal with this Hinkie guy who didn’t return my call a few years ago.” He can give his client a list of reasons to go to Philly, or a list of reasons to stay away from Philly. It may just come down to what the agent thinks of Sam Hinkie.

Next: Injury Update: Covington Could Play Monday

As far as fan conception about this article, they’re definitely getting nervous. This article, along with another published at SI.com painted the front office and coaching staff in a negative way. Fans are freaking out a little bit with a bad start to the season on top of that, but Brett Brown and the staff are still treating it as noise. Hinkie is smart. He will be able to work things out.