Zach Lowe’s Conversation With Sam Hinkie; What You Need To Know

The Philadelphia 76ers have had a rough past few days from a public relations standpoint, but a conversation with Zach Lowe and Sam Hinkie may have cleared up a lot.

The Philadelphia 76ers have had a terrible past few days as far as press goes. After it was reported that the NBA infiltrated the team and undermined their rebuilding process, encouraging the hire of Jerry Colangelo, it looked like Sam Hinkie’s work was practically for nothing. Then, it was reported Josh Harris was looking to sell the team in order to invest in an NFL team. Currently, nothing is going right for the team on or off the court, so it was smart for the team to look for some good press.

On Friday afternoon, Zach Lowe tweeted out that he was going to be releasing a conversation with Sam Hinkie on ESPN.

It was an article that was necessary for Sixers fans, one that really cleared up a lot of questions. Quickly, here’s the highlights of the article, and what you need to know.

Hinkie on Kendall Marshall and his “veteran impact” on the team:

"Marshall’s four-year, $8 million deal — partially guaranteed, of course! — is an NBA footnote, but for Hinkie, it represented the path to normalcy. During the signing process, Philly’s experts concluded Marshall could be available for opening night, Hinkie says. Instead, he’ll make his debut tonight for a 1-22 laughingstock. “We predicted it wrong,” Hinkie says. “That’s my fault. I’ve made plenty of mistakes, and I’m sure I’ll make more.” Marshall could have provided two things the howling critics rightfully suggest the Sixers need: a competent point guard, and some sort of veteran mentor for Jahlil Okafor, their wayward rookie star. “This has been hard,” Hinkie says. “We haven’t been proud of this kind of start. We had strong desires for a point guard who could help us play at a high tempo, and get our best players the ball in positions where they could be successful. We want someone to throw a post entry pass. We thought Kendall was that guy.”"

Sam is here to stay, and isn’t apologizing for “the process”:

"Hinkie has no plans to step down, and remains confident in his power. “Our owners made it very clear they want me leading us long-term,” Hinkie says. “Adding one more voice will make the conversation richer. Might it be challenging at times? I’m sure it will be. But making big decisions shouldn’t be easy — it shouldn’t be that you have an idea, and you get to execute it without anyone questioning it… Hinkie feels no need to apologize for the organizational teardown he spearheaded upon taking the job in the spring of 2013. Harris and his partners were on board with the plan before Hinkie walked in the door for his first interview. The Sixers had just lived through the hell of the Andrew Bynum trade, and they owed two future lottery-protected first-round picks — meaning they had incentive to plunge into the lottery, and keep those picks."

Hinkie’s explanation for choosing the draft over free agency:

"The Sixers reached out last summer to Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler, league sources have said, and they got nowhere. That failure is pertinent, Hinkie insists. “They chose to stay with the teams that drafted them.” Translation: you need stars to win a title, and the best way to get a star over his entire prime is to draft him. “The most challenging part is to go from zero stars to one,” Hinkie says. “After the Clippers got Blake Griffin, Chris Paul is a possibility. After the Rockets had James Harden, Dwight Howard is a possibility. After the Cavaliers have Kyrie Irving, LeBron coming back is a possibility.”"

Colangelo is with the Sixers for free agents, an area we touched on immediately after the hire:

"“We’ve tried to communicate clearly with agents, but that has been hard at times,” Hinkie says. “We’ve had a lot of transactions. That’s hard. That has caused some angst. Things unfold quickly, and maybe too quickly in that sense.” That’s clearly one reason Colangelo is here — to smooth things over with agents, the league office, and the media. “I’ve been quiet,” Hinkie says. “And in that vacuum, people fill in with their own notions of me and what’s going on. If that has painted the organization in a bad light, I don’t like that. Jerry and I have already talked about how it would help it I would be more open — if we did a better job of bringing fans along with us.”"

Read Zach Lowe’s full article here.