Sixer Talk

As I fly to LA to have breakfast with PCTI's favorite Actor, I felt like putting together a post about something I felt like talking about... Which happens to be my favorite, and also the most interesting team in professional sports, the Philadelphia 76ers.  I expect no more than three people to read this, and even less to be interested, but what the hell... Most of us look for things to take us away from work every day.

Take away from the fact that I was raised in Philadelphia (a pseudo-joke I've carried with me for 25 years that people still get annoyed by to this day), as a fan of the NBA, I find Sam Hinkie and the Sixers organization fascinating.  As a guy that enjoys the process of building a team more than actually watching the games, what they are doing is a dream scenario for me.  Very few front offices have a reputation for being ahead of the game, and I truly think (despite the fact that their record shows very few signs of life) the Sixers are in a class with the Patriots, Ravens, formally the Thunder, and Spurs for teams that always seem to make the right move (as I see it).

You really have to focus hard on the Sixers to see through the "tanking" (by the way, they still haven't been the worst team in basketball despite having the lowest payroll by far the last two years) to realize how unique their process is even though when explained it makes complete sense.  Sam Hinkie and the ownership group immediately roped the fan base in by two now famous phrases in Philly: "Trust the Process" and "Together We Build."  The brilliance of that marketing is so simple, yet made the entire city feel like they are a part of the big picture, which is why the most volatile fans on the planet have been behind every move from the very beginning.  What is Hinkie's philosophy exactly?

• Build through the draft and always take best player available.
• Identify a superstar and build around him.
• Hire a coach and let him grow with his players (any other coach in the NBA would have been fired after 20 games...).
• Have the organizations best interest and future at heart (Sixers have 25 picks the next five years evenly distributed).
• Protect the rim (Smo would fit perfectly in their defensive system).
• Big guards that can bully opposing guards down low, and big men that can shoot to draw the D out for the guards.  Basically flip flopping the norm.
• Get up the floor fast and put pressure on the defense.
• Under no circumstances build your team with a goal of anything else but a championship.

Sounds like a good plan, yet Hinkie is constantly crucified by some... But for what?  The fact that he's painfully patient, consistent, and refuses to settle?  How often do you see a GM who will put off the present for the future interest of the organization?  He has taken advantage of so many GM's in win now mode who could care less about anything past 2016.  He's gotten every pick back that the Sixers got rid of to get guys scrubs like Arnett Moultrie and Andrew Bynum.  On top of setting things up for the future, how has he drafted?  In year one he gets rid of Jrue Holiday at his highest market value imaginable, and grabs Nerlens Noel (would have been #1 overall if not coming off an injury) and Michael Carter-Williams (ROY) in one of the most beat drafts I've ever seen.  He patiently waits for Nerlens to heal, while giving MCW the opportunity to showcase his upside... This past year, after the team "tanked" he swings Joel Embiid (who most considered the best prospect in the draft and comparisons to Hakeem for great reason) who is out for the year and set the media world on fire.  He then takes El Payton, who he flips for another top 5 talent (Dario Saric) who may be the best international prospect since Dirk (6'10" PG with a hoops IQ as high as Skillz) who can't play for two years in the NBA.  Three months into the season, he sends off the only guy that appears to be a cornerstone with actual NBA repetition, MCW (who by the way is the worst shooter in the NBA) for what might end up being a top 5 pick in the next few years.  The guy refuses to settle and has no problem doing whatever it takes until he feels he has the right pieces.... Along with a first to take on Javale McGee's contract.  The Sixers could potentially have four first rounders in this years draft, along with six second rounders.  I've never seen anything as extreme as what they are doing, but damn it's been fun to follow.

If you made it this far, hopefully you find this guy (and team) as interesting as I do.  It's such a unique, crazy thing that it's convinced me they are smarter than everyone else.  If you're interested in reading a more well written article, read below... Which just so happened to be written about five days before he shipped off MCW.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12318808/the-philadelphia-76ers-radical-guide-winning