Philadelphia 76ers Brain Trust

Sam Hinkie

From an old Kenny Rodgers song, The Gambler, “you’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, know when to walk away and know when to run.”, you could almost see a grizzled senior citizen version of Sam Hinkie in a cowboy hat drinking down your last swallow. Sam Hinkie is neo, the man who sees the odds behind the deal. He is the guy who can rattle off the variables of a deal, give odds to the outcomes, while the other party is still weighing the first clause of the deal.  In short, he is most at home when he is weighing options.

What can you say about an NBA executive who was hired to his current position of president and general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers by virtue of a power point presentation that analyzed in detail the factors which contributed to the James Harden trade. The story is almost an urban legend status, originated by ESPN’s Pablo Torre:

"“That spring, Hinkie met Harris and Blitzer for dinner and another interview in Manhattan. Less than a year after their initial conversations, the contrast between ownership’s personal probabilistic sensibility and the current administration’s older-school tack stung. And Hinkie, as if to underscore that divergence, walked into dinner carrying a laptop, complete with a massively detailed PowerPoint presentation that Sixers executives now recall as an “investment thesis.” Its centerpiece was a diagram that illustrated, arrow by arrow, transaction by transaction, how Houston had amassed the assets — two first-rounders and a second-rounder, along with guards Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb — to acquire superstar guard James Harden from the Thunder in October … a month after the Sixers had hired DiLeo. Hinkie’s abstract vision for artfully delayed NBA production suddenly felt concrete.” excerpt from Feb 19,2015 ESPN article by Pablo Torre"

And so began the tenure of one of the present day NBA’s most controversial general managers. No deal is too big, no deal is too small. If it fits the plan, it’s a done deal. In fact, Sam Hinkie even causes anxiety among the teams executives, with Sixers CEO Scott O’Neil referring to Hinkie as “the Wolf of Broad Street”.  But the fact is that the Sixers were in a bad way.  The team could slowly drown hopes by working hard to achieve .500 basketball, or play for tomorrow.  Sam Hinkie is the man who sees tomorrow clearly:

And so the team has a decision maker focused on the Sixers “yet to come”.

Next: Tomorrowland