Section 215
Fansided

Philadelphia 76ers: Daryl Morey isn’t Sam Hinkie, for better and worse

By Matty Breisch

(Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
(Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /
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Daryl Morey brings a different kind of Process to the Philadelphia 76ers.

There is one singular, unknowable question that has haunted and will continue to haunt the Philadelphia 76ers for the foreseeable future:  What would have happened if Sam Hinkie was allowed to finish what he started?

Whether you were praying openly at the altar of ‘the processed one’ or thought of him as nothing but a smarmy nerd ruining the great sport of basketball, the idea of executing the most garish rebuild in NBA history forever cements Hinkie’s legacy in the annals of basketball history for better and worse.

Indeed, Hinkie was a renegade maverick; a chaotic good malcontent ill concerned with the traditional trappings of the good ‘ole boys club. He wanted to win, wanted a competitive advantage in a sport where very few exist and didn’t care who he miffed off in the process.

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Did this reckless abandon ultimately cost him his job? Most definitely, Hinkie may go down as one of the rare NBA general managers to have an outright coup executed against him by the league’s owners, but in a way, that sort of cemented his legacy even further. Hinkie became a martyr who was canned before he could let his adoring fans down, which, as you know, is all but inevitable in the world of sports.

But hark, the Sixers are no longer a lost cause! Sure, fans had to suffer through the ‘Colangelo-era’ both Jerry and Bryan and watched as Elton Brand wasted away the last of their war chest, but now, four years removed from Hinkie’s ousting, the Sixers have finally hired a new head honcho to shepherd their wayward roster down the right path moving forward.

When news broke that the Philadelphia 76ers intend to hire ex-Houston Rockets general manager/incredibly entertaining guy Daryl Morey to oversee their front office for the next five seasons, it was a near-universally lauded move.

On paper, Morey couldn’t be more built for the Philly sports market. He’s a huge personality who isn’t afraid to ruffle a few feathers to get a deal done and is considered among the brightest minds in the sport. Morey has never had a losing record while overseeing a franchise, and best of all, he’s the man who gave Hinkie his first real shot to oversee operations moves as the Rockets’ vice president and elevated him to Executive Vice President a few years later.

Like Hinkie, Morey is an analytics guy who prides himself on finding diamonds in the rough both in the draft and free agency. Over his time in Houston, Morey added eventual stars like Kyle Lowery, Montrez Harrell, and some former Sixth Man of the Year named James Harden on the cheap and elevated their games to unimaginable heights versus their expectations.

Morey is also a shrewd negotiator who has consistently found ways to reshape his roster by transforming mismatched parts into All-Star players. He traded a half-dozen players for Chris Paul back in 2017 – a deal he made with current Sixers head coach Doc Rivers no less – flipped Paul’s untradeable contract for Russell Westbrook, and somehow was able to land Robert Covington for Clint Capella in an overly complicated four-team deal.

If you liked Hinkie, you’re going to love Morey. If you hated Hinkie, well, you’re still (probably) going to like Morey too, as he’s a much more front-facing figure than the Sixers’ former general manager – who was often criticized for pulling the strings in the background like a sort of Senator Palpatine-type pre-Episode 3.

But here’s the thing, Daryl Morey isn’t Sam Hinkie, for better and worse.

Unlike Hinkie, Morey isn’t all about accruing future assets and building a young corps around his two proven stars. No, there’s a very real possibility fan favorites like Shake Milton, Furkan Korkmaz, and even Matisse Thybulle will be packaged alongside bad contracts to free up cap space and build a more streamlined outfit. There’s also a very real possibility Morey doesn’t use the Sixers’ five picks this season at all, as the Rockets didn’t actually keep any of their first-round picks over the past five seasons, instead flipping them for veteran players.

Fun fact: The last first-round pick of the Rockets to actually receive a second contract with the team was Capella, who was drafted all the way back in 2014.

That’s the thing about Morey; he’s a big picture guy. He knows that second-round picks have just as good of a chance to hit as guys picked in the 20s, and the only real way to win in the NBA is with stars. While you and I may want to defend Thybulle at all costs for his otherworldly wholesomeness, Morey knows you can find five Thybulle-ish guys who will play for half the money and work twice as hard to earn another contract the next season.

While P.J. Tucker and Eric Gordon enjoy varying degrees of popularity around the league now, neither was considered a bonified star before they arrived in Houston.

Even Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid are not necessarily safe in a post-Morey world, a near-unthinkable prospect when Hinkie risked life and limb to secure the duo’s services in 2014 and 2016 respectively. Granted, that doesn’t mean the duo are certified goners, as most expect the 2020-21 season to serve as the ultimate trial run for the team’s future on their new structure. There is, however, a world where one or the other is packaged to land a better fitting star player down the line – a star player like Harden, if you believe Steven A Smith, Max Kellerman, and the fine folks over at First Take.

Next. The Philadelphia Phillies need to find their own version of Daryl Morey. dark

Ultimately, if you’re expecting Daryl Morey to come in and re-create ‘The Process’, you will be sorely disappointed. Morey is a proven commodity who, like Hinkie, has very little time for the traditional trappings of a homegrown team. If trading away star players, fan favorites, or draft picks is what it takes to break through the pack and represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Championship, then so be it. Will it royally stink to see a player like Joel Embiid in a Miami Heat jersey? Oh, you’d bet, but honestly, Philadelphia 76ers fans, wasn’t winning championships the point of ‘The Process’ all along?