Sixers News: Will The Sam Hinkie Plan Work?

Every week, I hear the critics of the Sam Hinkie plan kick and scream about throwing away seasons and talk about how the plan isn’t working.

And I always have one question for said critics that I can never seem to get any kind of legitimate response to. That question is “What’s your alternative?”

And naturally, the Hinkie critics have no legitimate response to offer and just go back to their painfully shortsighted rhetoric about why they think Hinkie is the worst thing to happen to the Sixers in years.

I can tell you exactly what the alternative would be, and it isn’t pretty.

The Sixers could have gone out and done what they’ve always done. They could have kept Jrue Holiday and Thaddeus Young and built around them. They could have blown their cap room on B or C-list free agents like Josh Smith (who signed a mega-deal with Detroit in 2013, only to be released a year later), Al Jefferson and Lance Stephenson (who were supposed to put the Charlotte Hornets over the top, when in reality couldn’t make them better than a bottom seed in the East. Things got so bad with Stephenson, that the Hornets had to deal him away after one year as well).

The top free agents of the league in the last few years, the LeBron’s, the Carmelo’s, the Dwight Howard’s, etc weren’t going to come here no matter how much money the Sixers had, and they certainly weren’t going to come here to play with Jrue Holiday or Thad Young. And they weren’t going to come for Michael Carter-Williams either.

If you want an A-List free agent, you’ve got to have a strong young core that can legitimately be built around. And you typically find those talents at the top of the draft. Holiday and Young were nice players, but never even close to elite, franchise-changing talents.

Joel Embiid had that type of talent. Jahlil Okafor could be that kind of guy. Nerlens Noel’s potential to be an elite defender with a nice complimentary offensive skillset also makes him a very nice piece.

Why Sam Hinkie’s Plan Could Work – Philly.com

Mike Sielski of Philly.com analyzed Sam Hinkie’s rebuilding plan and attempted to make a case for supporting the 76ers’ rebuilding scheme.

Many critics of the plan moan and complain about the “ethics” behind tanking, and hate the idea of throwing away seasons on an idea that isn’t even a total guarantee to work.

The reality is that no rebuilding plan is a guarantee. But the difference with Hinkie’s plan and the average rebuilding scheme is that the Sixers have created flexibility to improve in a number of ways. Even if the team is unable to secure the top player in a draft, they’ve stock piled a number of extra first-round picks that should begin to really pay some dividends next season.

Dario Saric should arrive from Europe. The Sixers could have potentially four first-round picks next year, with two of those potentially in the top 10 of the draft. And who knows, maybe just maybe, Joel Embiid comes back healthy. Oh, and the Sixers have a boatload of cap room just waiting for the right opportunity to be spent.

Sam Hinkie And The Importance Of Hope – Philly Voice

Matt Mullin of Philly Voice wrote a piece about the Hinkie plan, taking a look at one key element that may make the plan popular: hope.

The idea is that Hinkie can continue to string fans along with the idea that there’s a much greater plan in place and without putting an exact timeframe on the plan’s completion, the Sixers can continue to take their time and do whatever they want without much consequence.

Personally, I can’t stand a lot of the conspiracy theorists that think the Sixers aren’t actually trying to build anything. I’ve heard everything from the idea that the Sixers just want to keep the extra revenue by keeping their salary cap forever low, to the even more ridiculous notion that Joshua Harris is scheming to move the Sixers to New Jersey.

Some people just don’t get it. This is the way you have to build in the NBA today. Many other general managers would love to adapt Hinkie’s approach, but don’t have the support from management to do so because the majority of owners don’t have the guts to do what the Sixers are doing and sacrifice short-term profit and endure a handful of bad seasons in order to take a shot at something special.

Stauskas Looking For Redemption In Philadelphia – ProBasketball Talk

Nik Stauskas’ rookie year did not go the way he wanted it to.

Shooting below 30% from the floor before the All-Star break, the eighth overall pick in the draft was buried in the chaos that was the Sacramento Kings’ rotation, and never really got into a good grove.

Stauskas began to improve late in the season when George Karl took over as head coach, however his defensive issues prevented the head coach from really unleashing him and giving him extended minutes.

Now Stauskas hopes to make a much stronger first impression once his time with the Sixers begins. Playing on a young, growing team with a solid head coach like Brett Brown should provide the second-year man with ample opportunity to make significant strides in his second year.