The Sam Hinkie Dossier (conclusion)

In the four areas of talent acquisition, I gave Hinkie pretty good grades: Draft (A-), Waiver (B-), Free Agency (C-), Trades (A-). Considering that free agency was something he was saving for Summer 2016, I'm giving him a pass on his one bad grade. Looking back on it, I think Hinkie did a really good job: he suffered through three terrible years but he effectively created a new culture, left a handful of promising players in place and a ton of draft picks to continue to find talent. No, he did not win games but during his time in Philly that was never his mandate.

As for the 'process', it is still very much in place. As I've said before, this summer was always the time for making a splash: the Sixers have a ton of money, draft picks, and some young talent waiting in the wings. Throw big money at Mike Conley and Nic Batum and they're rolling into next year with Conley, Simmons, Batum, Okafor, Nerlens with Covington, Stauskus, Saric, Embiid, #24 and #26 in this year's draft off the bench and plenty of future picks to barter for more talent and, of course, there's still plenty of money for some veteran role players (think Nene, Mo Harkless, Ty Lawson, maybe even Jamal Crawford or Aron Aflalo). That's still a young team that will struggle but at least they'll be trying to win games and giving the fans something to cheer for and if things break right, that squad would be in the hunt for a playoff spot in the East. That team would be on the up whereas for the last three years Philly has been decidedly on the down. This is all part of the process....that Hinkie will no longer be a part of.

Or they could blow it up one more time: how about Okafor to the Celtics for #3 and Nerlens to the Suns for #4 and Tyson Chandler. That would give them Tyson Chandler anchoring an all-rookie team: PG Kris Dunn, SG Jamal Murray, SF Ben Simmons, PF Joel Embiid, C Chandler with F Dario Saric off the bench. Again, that team would scuffle for a year or two but when they did come together, it could be serious hot sauce, especially in the East.

The Sixers actually have a ton of options right now and virtually anything they choose to do will be a move in the right direction. I dunno. What would Hinkie do?