The Sixer Sense
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Philadelphia 76ers: The Sam Hinkie Manifesto

By Bret Stuter

Dec 7, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie speaks to the media during a press conference to introduce Jerry Colangelo (not pictured) as special advisor before a game against the San Antonio Spurs at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 7, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie speaks to the media during a press conference to introduce Jerry Colangelo (not pictured) as special advisor before a game against the San Antonio Spurs at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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These advantages over our competitors are material, but well short of deterministic. From here a
whole host of solid decisions are necessary to play our hand out of this stacked deck.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Other

Building a talent pipeline into our program, while important, is of course not the only goal we had.
Even with young players and expected roster turnover, we needed to move the club toward a style that was conducive to winning in tomorrow’s NBA. We improved our pace from below average to 1st immediately, then settled into about 6th for the next two seasons. We moved our shot selection from consistently bottom two in the league to consistently 2nd in the league. And our defensive principles are increasingly top-notch, showing that we can play above average defense (13th) when we had solid veteran defenders like Luc Mbah a Moute on the roster, but also struggle with some of the NBA’s youngest talent defending every night (bottom 5).

Outlook

Your club is on solid footing now, with much hard work yet to be done. As we continued to invest
in young players, acquire more draft selections, and maintain cap flexibility the forward-looking markets took notice. Our Future Franchise Rankings (ESPN’s) that began at 24th in a 30-team league in May of 2013 climbed to 19th in 2014, 17th in 2015, and most recently via RealGM’s rankings in December of 2015, 12th. I think that is imminently reasonable, as is a couple of spots higher.

Lottery night will be nerve-wracking for most and exciting for all. I said to Josh & David last year
during the NBA’s Draft Lottery that it is rare for the importance of luck in our lives to be laid bare for the whole world to see. Walking out with a top-5 pick in each hand would be exciting, but it’s not necessary.  The rights to those picks don’t extinguish, but instead move forward to a future year, one filled with new possibilities and challenges both.

Regardless of the haul that comes out of a May night in New York, the team is likely to see
additional lottery pick talent hit the court next season regardless. Two additional first round picks this year are available to you as well. Plus additional draft picks are set to flow in regularly for many years to come. Plus the league’s best cap position. A bevy of young players. A deep and passionate coaching staff. An innovative management team. A beautiful new practice facility set to open before training camp. In a city with wonderful basketball heritage. You could do worse.

The NBA can be a league of desperation, those that are in it and those that can avoid it. So many
find themselves caught in the zugzwang, the point in the game where all possible moves make you worse off. Your positioning is now the opposite of that.

A sincere thank you

Thank you for the opportunity you all gave me to lead this storied franchise. My gratification is
beyond my power to express. What is unequivocal is that the principal beneficiary of your largesse has been
me. Thank you.