The Sixer Sense
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What Would Wiley Sam Hinkie Do?

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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In the fallout of the Nerlens Noel/Brett Brown drama blazing with the Philadelphia 76ers, there is plenty of room to question the player, the coach, and the front office. But how would Sam Hinkie, the former executive of the Philadelphia 76ers, handle this situation?

The situation is the fraying of the relationship between center Nerlens Noel, coach Brett Brown, and the front office of the Philadelphia 76ers organization. It’s bleak.

We got here from a series of moves, each benign in their own right, but combined to become a malignant issue that has begun to consume far too much attention of this organization.

Once upon a time, the Philadelphia 76ers were a team with few draft picks, limited salary cap, and few young prospects.  The team had just brought team president Sam Hinkie into the fold, and Hinkie had just one asset to offer NBA teams: Jrue Holiday.  And so, in the 2013 NBA Draft, Hinkie traded Holiday and the 42nd pick (Pierre Jackson) to the New Orleans Pelicans for their selected Nerlens Noels, a 2014 first round pick.

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That 2014 pick would eventually become Dario Saric.

A benign transaction that gave Hinkie an additional pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.  But Sam Hinkie played chess with the NBA Draft. In 2014, he selected third and chose the player who would sit for two years, Joel Embiid. Like Noel, Embiid played center but was injured.

Noel would play the 2014 season, and Embiid would rehab.