There is no easy, intelligent, or witty way to start this column because it starts with news that is depressing to me and all of the people who trusted the process over the last two-plus years with the Philadelphia 76ers. Sam Hinkie, the general manager who spearheaded the Process, stepped down as general manager last night.
This year was the toughest year for Hinkie and the Process when you consider the Sixers almost tied the record for the worst record in NBA history, had a first-round pick in Jahlil Okafor who was involved in a fight in Boston early in the season, and confusion and uncertainty following the hire of current Chairman of Basketball Operations, Jerry Colangelo.
It was the toughest year for the Sixers and their fans — the ones who trusted the Process from minute one — but those fans were still on board and still supportive (i.e. going to games, watching on television).
Hinkie’s final message to the Sixers is encapsulated in a 13-page resignation letter that is brilliant on so many levels. Hinkie quotes a number of influential minds, including a young Warren Buffet, Seth Klarmon, Elon Musk of Tesla, and even Abraham Lincoln.
It’s a shame that this letter will be more made fun of like the high school bully picking on the nerdy kid with glasses and his pocket protector. It’s already happening on Twitter, and each jab is just another slap in the face of all the Process Trusters.
That slap in the face will be considerably less painful than the knife in the back that we got from Sixers CEO Scott O’Neil , who was a champion to us when he hired Sam Hinkie. O’Neil and the Sixers’ beginning mantra of “Together we Build” was something many of us could get behind. What we had was mediocrity.
After the Andrew Bynum trade fell flat, that’s what the Sixers had: mediocrity and nothingness. The Sixers had Jrue Holiday, Thaddeus Young, and a young Evan Turner, but nothing to supplement that with. The Sixers had very little draft picks, and almost no wiggle room in the cap.
As Hinkie said in his resignation letter, the Sixers were ranked 24th in ESPN’s near-term future rankings where they take into effect the current roster, future draft picks, salary cap situation, coaching, and management. Something had to change because that is not a model or plan for long-term, sustainable success.
Hinkie began his plan by trading Jrue Holiday (who was coming off an All-Star selection) to the New Orleans Pelicans for Nerlens Noel and Michael Carter-Williams (who was the Rookie of the Year that year).
The following off-season, Thaddeus Young was traded for a top-10 protected pick from the Miami Heat, and the Sixers drafted Joel Embiid and Dario Saric, two players who have yet to play a game for the Sixers (one due to injury, and one due to being in Europe).
It was right about then when the natives (Philadelphia beat writers, national media people) were beginning to get restless, which was expected. People fear what they don’t understand. They didn’t understand what Hinkie was trying to build. They didn’t understand the long-term view of the team after they had become so content with mediocrity. They didn’t trust the Process, which is fine. If those people chose to abandon ship and trash Hinkie, then that was their choice.
The rest of us had hope.
The rest of us knew better times were coming.
The rest of us knew what Hinkie did. The evidence is there.
This list doesn’t include Embiid (who will be back next year), Saric (who is more than likely coming over next year), or the pick swap we have with the Sacramento Kings as a result of the trade that brought us Nik Stauskas.
In two years, Hinkie has improved the future outlook for this team dramatically. If you can’t or don’t want to believe that, then there’s nothing to say that would convince you at this point. Progress doesn’t matter, even if Hinkie turned that near-future ranking of 24th to 12th as of December (which is right around when the Sixers hired Colangelo).
When Colangelo was hired, many Process Trusters had the same response. “He is a plant by the NBA and Adam Silver to usurp the Process and ruin Hinkie and what he’s done because the Sixers are a joke, and we’re bad PR for them.”
A small part of me wanted to believe that Colangelo would be to the team what Jerry West is to Golden State, a silent adviser that is merely an asset the team has. That wasn’t the case, and the second Colangelo was hired, he began his “Process,” running Hinkie out of town by leaking story after story to anyone who would listen.
You have to imagine this got back to Hinkie, and when it did, Hinkie did the honorable thing. He turned the other cheek. Hinkie could have fired back with his own quips, but what good would that serve?
When you’re being bullied, the best thing to do is ignore the bully. Ignore Colangelo. Ignore the Philadelphia beat writers. Ignore the national media people. That’s what Hinkie did, and that’s what CEO Scott O’Neil was doing for over two years until it got to be too much for O’Neil.
If O’Neil was unhappy with the Process and how long it was taking (even though he agreed to it when he hired Sam Hinkie), then he should have had the testicular fortitude to fire him before the season. Instead, he let the NBA and Adam Silver get in his ear and allow someone like Colangelo to enter the organization and begin his infestation.
As of last night, the fruits of his labor are done, and every report that has come out since then has Bryan Colangelo (Jerry’s son) as the new GM of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Bryan. Schmucking. Colangelo. (That is the closest I’ve come to cursing in a column in ten years.)
Colangelo, a man who made one good draft pick (Demar DeRozan) at his last job as Toronto Raptors general manager (two if you count Jonas Valanciunas), was never able to build around Chris Bosh (a top-20 NBA player), and has as many championship rings as you or I, is the new general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Every Process Truster and some Sixers fans probably wouldn’t be that upset if someone else was hired, but Colangelo was so quick to hire his son. No one else was interviewed. No one else was even considered. This was Bryan’s job and no one else’s.
This is the part that should anger Sixers fans (both Trusters and non-Trusters). Colangelo wasn’t hired because he had a vision or a plan or some measure of past success. He was hired simply because he’s daddy’s little boy. That’s the reason, and you can choose to believe it or not.
If you want to hire a GM to build what Hinkie tore down, you don’t do it with a guy that drafted Andrea Bargnani number one in the draft over LaMarcus Aldridge. That should immediately disqualify you.
Yes, he drafted Shawn Marion and Amar’e Stoudemire, but when you look at Colangelo’s draft history, it’s not too impressive after that. It’s full of misses and panic trades (i.e. the Jermaine O’Neal trade).
So, where are we, now? What do Sixers fans do? How are we supposed to react and carry on?
I will more than likely continue to support the current Sixers players because I love Nerlens Noel. I love Jerami Grant and Bob Covington. I even love little Nik Stauskas, who has been playing better of late.
I don’t want to treat the players like kids stuck in a terrible divorce and custody battle. It’s not your fault, guys. I will still love all of you, and I will visit when it’s my turn in joint custody. When Embiid and Saric enter the fold, I will embrace them lovingly, as well.
If you’re happy that Hinkie stepped down (i.e. Marcus Hayes-types and the like), then you’re probably on cloud nine because you guys won. You got what you wanted. What about the rest of us? What about those of us who saw what Sam Hinkie was doing and jumped into the fire with him? What about those people who now feel like they’ve been stabbed in the back after their heart has been ripped from their chest cavity? (I know that’s a gruesome picture, but it’s very apt in this case.) Mike Levin of Liberty Ballers said it best with this tweet:
Owners said they were different. More patient. Holding out for something better than the middle. Well they lied. Those spineless fucks lied.
— Michael Levin (@Michael_Levin) April 7, 2016
(Pardon Mike’s language, but this is all very raw to many of us.)
We (Process Trusters) were lied to. We were deceived. How can we trust this Sixers organization, now? I am the only Process Truster on the Total Sports Live payroll, and I have defended the Process for two years. For it to end like this does such a disservice because I and so many others at Liberty Ballers and Crossing Broad backed you when no one else did. There was a plan, Scott O’Neil. There was a vision. There was a Process. You backed it at first, but then when it got too hard, you folded.
You didn’t defend the man you agreed with and hired, and with the Colangelos in charge, now, you will get everything you deserve, especially if that’s a return to mediocrity.
Long live the Process
(2013-2016)