Remembering the Pre-Hinkie Sixers

Leading up to Sam Hinkie’s tenure as general manager and Dark Lord of the Philadelphia 76ers, the team was a young group drowning in mediocrity.

Sometimes it’s very important to take a moment away from the present to revisit the past. It’s good for the soul or at least for perspective’s sake. Upon looking backward, we’re likely to come to a point of appreciation, either because we’re more fond of the past than the present or the other way around. In the case of the Philadelphia 76ers, it’s the other way around.

We’ve spent the past three-plus years watching this team win less games than the Golden State Warriors did solely in the 2015-16 season; we’ve argued with 29 other fan bases, and our own, over the legitimacy of Hinkie’s plan; we’ve been so caught up in this basketball revolution that it feels as though this voyage has gone on for far longer than three years. In some ways it’s hard to remember the era before Hinkie. We talk about BC (Before-Colangelo) and A(H)D (After-Hinkie’s death), but what about the era before that?

More from History

• Philadelphia 76ers: Top 10 Sixers busts since 2000
• Philadelphia 76ers Ten Biggest Mistakes of the Last Ten Years
• Philadelphia 76ers: Best trade in team history with Washington Wizards
• 6 Worst Philadelphia 76ers starters of the Allen Iverson era
• Are 76ers using page from past for ‘Twin Towers’ lineup

Let’s go back to 2009 because it’s important to see how far this franchise has come and why this massive rebuild and unorthodox thinking was necessary. For the second straight year, the team had been bounced in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Kyle Korver was gone, Elton Brand had just finished up the first year of a 5 year, near $80 million deal, and Andre Iguodala‘s back was already taking on too much pressure. The Sixers had never had a stretch like this until post-Iverson. They had Wilt, Dr. J., Moses, Barkley, many more and the Answer. Winning and basketball went together in Philadelphia, but for years since the Iverson trade, the Sixers had no promising talent even close to the level of their famous, storied past.

Then the changing of the guard (literally) came in 2009 when the team drafted Jrue Holiday and saw Andre Miller leave. This was the transitional year. I mean, they brought back Allen Iverson so they could sell out the arena. The scrappy veteran team needed an injection of youth, potential for the future.

The team missed the playoffs and the John Wall jackpot by one spot. Evan Turner seemed like a slam dunk at No. 2 (can you imagine if they had taken Boogie Cousins though?) potentially securing the backcourt of the future next to Holiday. Both guys were combo guards, and while there appeared to be some overlap with Turner and Iguodala, it was a nice core in theory. Around those three, the team had more promising young talent in “Skip to My” Lou Williams, Mo Speights (before he became Mo Buckets), the ever reliable Thaddeus Young, and the sharp shooting Jodie Meeks. This wasn’t an eastern conference juggernaut, but if Turner and Holiday fulfilled their potential there was the chance to bring in a big free agent and become a contender.

At this point in 2010, this was the team. They were young, developing, not getting much out of Elton Brand, but relevant all the same. The only issue for the young Sixers was the Miami Heat added LeBron James and Chris Bosh that summer. The two faced off in the playoffs, in the Big 3’s first playoff series. Jrue Holiday and the Sixers lost 4-1, but not before Holiday drained a clutch bucket in Dwyane Wade‘s face in Game 4 to avoid elimination.

The following year, while aided by injuries to Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, the Sixers were one win away from the Eastern Conference Finals. Andre Iguodala sank free throws to beat the Bulls and then catapulted atop the tables at mid-court and jeered and waved to the Philly faithful. They were on the rise. They gave the Celtics a hell of a series. Sure, it wasn’t perfect. Evan Turner wasn’t coming along as expected, but he had time and the team also had a young talented big man out of USC named Nik Vucevic. Yet despite the momentum and a good young core, this would be the last time these Sixers would be together or even appear in the playoffs.

Believing they had the future in Holiday and Turner, the Sixers partook in the infamous Dwight Howard trade, but of course they were not getting Dwight. Dwight went to the Lakers and to Philadelphia came Andrew Bynum, fresh off averaging 16 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks for the Lakers in the playoffs. He had made the all-star team and played in 60 regular season games in 2012. The Sixers were buying high, but of course they had to pay the price.

The team sent out Iguodala, Vucevic, first rounder Mo Harkless, and a future first round pick. From here we know everything crashed and burned, leading to Sam Hinkie’s hiring and the draft day trade of Holiday to the Pelicans. The process was born then, but the interesting thing about the 2012 trade was that the Sixers were focused on winning a championship. They had built a young core while staying competitive, like most franchises attempt. Eventually they had the assets to take a risk on acquiring a star. It was the right mindset, just poor execution and luck. Sure Hinkie’s Sixers didn’t have the best luck either, but they were more patient and that boded well for fruits to ripen.

That 2009-2013 era of Sixers basketball was not too different in some ways from what we witnessed in 2013-2016. Developing young talent and utilizing it to get or acquire stars has always been the goal. Even the 2012 Sixers front office, like the fans, were not okay exiting the playoffs early. They wanted to be better and so they took a swing for the fences. Now, the Sixers are taking their time, seeing how that big of a swing put them back several years. It’s intriguing to look back and see similar ideas, but also to appreciate when the vision started to build something better.

Next: Can Philadelphia 76ers Overtake The Golden State Warriors?

Remembering those Sixers is key in hindsight to appreciate the last three years of rebuilding, all for the same goal of building a contender. And now, the bleak is the past and the future is bright once again.