The Alternative
What could the Sixers have done if they did not hire Hinkie? Instead of a demolition mission, like any company searching for the highest quality employee, the Sixers should’ve hired an experienced and well-respected GM and rolled out the red carpet for any and every star free agent. Their pitch in 2013 should have gone like this:
“We pushed Boston to a game seven in the semifinals the season before. We have great young pieces, like Jrue Holiday and Thaddeus Young. A new, state-of-the art practice facility is on the way in a few years. We have a grand tradition in the NBA that can be mentioned in the same breath as the Celtics and Lakers. You are the missing piece to help us elevate to the next level. You could help bring a championship back to Philadelphia.”
It could have been just that simple. As opposed to going 47-199 in three years of tanking and being the laughing stock of ALL professional sports, the Sixers could have obtained a piece here and there, through trades and free agency and continued to build toward a championship-caliber roster while putting a quality product on the floor for the tens and thousands of fans in the Philly region.
Think of it like this — If you were a kid starting high school in Philadelphia who loved basketball and the Sixers, your entire high school career is filled with nothing but losing memories because of a management that deliberately developed a roster of players whose only shot at playing competitive basketball at a high-level was in the G-League or overseas.
Let it sink in — a young generation was deprived of positive basketball memories because Josh Harris gambled with Sam Hinkie, and Sam Hinkie gambled with the Process. Back then, the 76ers turned Hinkie into a wrecking ball, and the organization is still picking up debris.
Living in the past is not good. Reflecting on it though could mean the difference between improvement and insanity. For 76er fans, it’s reflection time…again. According to some, the Process is dead. If true, I would be the first to put flowers on the casket. Moving forward, there’s two questions to ponder — was Hinkie’s tanking and subsequent drama worth all of the disappointment? And — are the Sixers that much better off today than they were in 2013 when Sam Hinkie took over?
I will let you be the judge of that. Whatever your response, I am sure there is one thing we can all agree with — tanking to stock draft picks should never happen again.