The Sixer Sense
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Will Sam Hinkie Stay Out Of NBA Draft Second Round?

By Bret Stuter

Feb 10, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie prior to a game against the Sacramento Kings at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 10, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie prior to a game against the Sacramento Kings at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Since arriving in Philadelphia, 76ers President and General Manager Sam Hinkie has made a splash in the NBA draft second round. But the 2016 NBA draft is rapidly approaching, and the Philadelphia 76ers do not currently have a second round selection to make.

The pattern of Philadelphia 76ers president and general manager Sam Hinkie draft philosophy has been surprising, unpredictable, and innovative. But the methods have adhered to an unseen script which we can only trace by the consistent patterns that it creates. Like ripples on the water surface, we may not see the stone that caused the splash, but we can detect the pattern by the wave motions left in its wake.

So too do Philadelphia fans know the script all too well: Use a first round draft pick to lock in a player whose value will increase over time due to recovering from an injury. Trade assets for the recently selected first round draft pick from another team. Trade recently selected players to another team who had coveted that prospect, but do so at a premium to that prospects worth. Finally, load up on multiple second round draft picks.

The difference between the previous three seasons and this year is straight-forward.   The Philadelphia 76ers have no second round draft picks from which to excite the fan-base.  There are factual reasons for the Sixers absence in the second round this year, as well as some speculative reasons.   The facts are that the Philadelphia 76ers held the rights to two second round draft picks in the 2016 NBA draft – their own (currently 31st overall,  first in the second round) as as that of the Denver Nuggets (40th overall, tenth pick in the second round)

The Sixers traded their own second round draft pick to the Miami Heat in a complicated turn of events which resulted in the Sixers acquiring Arnette Moultrie – the 27th selection from the 2012 NBA draft – in exchange for the Sixers 45th pick and a future draft pick.  That future draft pick is the complication, as it was a lottery protected first round draft pick that never converted, eventually falling to become the Sixers second round pick in 2015 and 2016.   That 2016 pick has subsequently been traded by the Miami Heat to the Boston Celtics.

The Denver Nuggets pick was part of the compensation to the New Orleans Pelicans for the services of point guard Ish Smith.  And so, the team has traded both opportunities to work that “Hinkie Magic” by discovering a diamond in the rough in the NBA second round.

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But speculating brings one to realize that the team is synchronizing virtually all factors to become a force to be reckoned with beginning in the 2016-2017 NBA season.  The construction of a new state-of-the-art training facility is scheduled for completion on or near the start of next season, the team has been ramping up the team supporting cast for players, and the team already anticipates the arrival of familiar named NBA top rated prospects in Joel Embiid and Dario Saric.

In quick work, the Philadelphia 76ers are evolving from a patient and developing team into a team with a timeline, a purpose, and a rapidly moving plan that simply cannot continue to onboard NBA hopefuls from the second round or undrafted ranks, for now.  Whether purposeful, or merely a temporary matter that comes with trusting the process, the train is pulling away from the station next season, and taking on new passengers is simply not part of the plan any longer.

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Similarly, with as many as six new faces joining the team (Embiid, Saric, and as many as four first round draft picks), any second round selection would simply be pushed to the side of the roster build from the sheer weight of squeezing all of the new talent onto the roster.  In a numbers game of who stays and who goes, a second round prospect would need to be special indeed to catch the attention of the team in time to stick his foot into the door long enought to make the final fifteen.

Next: Philadelphia 76ers Must Choose Roster Carefully

But somehow, even as I type this conclusion that it is all for the best that the Sixers will not have a presence in the second round of this 2016 NBA draft, I cannot shake the feeling that Sam Hinkie has his eye on the prize of some mega trade that converts players or late first round pick into some type of second round pallete of players who can be parked internationally until the team sorts through this season’s chaos.