Sixers hire Rockets Asst. GM Sam Hinkie

[Mr. E]

The rockets were one of the few teams that use the d league alot.
Should be interesting to see if we do the same having our own team there now.

Sam Hinkie was one of the key reasons why the Rockets used the D-League system so well. I think that you'll be very pleased with him on the player development front (especially now that there is no limit on D-League assignments and call-backs).

For Houston this is a pretty significant loss, but one that I believe that the team has been preparing themselves for a while now. The guy was going to get the top job somewhere.

First couple of seasons might see some pretty extreme polarization among the Philly fanbase, but always keep in mind that the long-term goals are the game plan for guys like this.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

I'm fine with it as long as change is made. We can't keep staying stuck in mediocrity. I love Thad Young and I believe we should keep him, Same with Jrue Holiday, and even Evan Turner to an extent but I would trade any one of them or all three for the right return.

[76ciology]

I don't have that much knowledge with Hinkie and the Rockets' transactions and stuffs, so I want to ask you guys that if the Rockets wasn't able to land Harden, would Morey and Hinkie get the praises they've been receiving? They're certainly good with their advanced stats but how about their ability to build a team and scout players? Because I think they also did some really questionable acquisitions like overpaying guys like Lin or Ariza (not sure) and being not outstanding in drafts (White?).

I think the only bright thing I do see is that Hinkie knows the importance of having a star and how a team can only compete with a star, and that's why they accumulated their trade assets for Harden. But what if they didn't end up with Harden?

Another thing is that I think Hinkie is a big supporter of Bynum. And having the upper hand in re-signing Bynum could be one of the reasons he was interested in being the GM of this team.

[76ciology]

I'm fine with it as long as change is made. We can't keep staying stuck in mediocrity. I love Thad Young and I believe we should keep him, Same with Jrue Holiday, and even Evan Turner to an extent but I would trade any one of them or all three for the right return.

I think Thad is more valuable that what people is giving him credit for. I do think Thad is worth or even worth more than his contract. And at this era of the NBA, long versatile athletic tweeners like Thad is valuable to match-up with stars with similar built like LBJ and Melo, who plays PF in stretches.

Jrue and Thad, IMO, are perfect complimentary guys that you can surround your star(s) with. They'd probably like the Rox version of Lin/Parsons and Asik that compliments Harden.

If you want to package ET, I'd probably package him with our 1st this year. I just don't know what kind of value you can get with it for people have mixed feelings with both ET and this year's draft.

[PhilasFinest]

Perfect "complimentary" guys generally don't take up 20 million dollars of cap space.

Parsons is a much more versatile player than Thad( Better shooter,Defender,Scorer,ballhandler,etc) and still
On a 2nd round rookie scale.

[P2K]

It's cool that Hinkie utilized the d-league and all, but I honestly don't give two craps about it. Never have and never will.

If we are seeking help from the d-league, it is a failure.

[Kobblehead]

I think they also did some really questionable acquisitions like overpaying guys like Lin or Ariza (not sure) and being not outstanding in drafts (White?).

Dude, finding steals like Chase Buddinger and Chandler Parsons (both second round picks) just go to show you how well they've scouted drafts.

[CoreyGallagher]

I love Thad, but agree, I'd move him for something in a heartbeat.

That something better be worthwhile then, I don't understand how an analytical guy would be gung ho on trading by far our best statistical player in Thad. Trading Turner makes as much sense as choosing life over death.

Turner is not a scrub. He's just not the star we hoped he would become. He still as some value.

Nah, Turner has been a scrub, look at his metrics and advanced statistics, even if you're not an analytical guy you can see just how absolutely terrible ET has been.

[P2K]

I think they also did some really questionable acquisitions like overpaying guys like Lin or Ariza (not sure) and being not outstanding in drafts (White?).

Dude, finding steals like Chase Buddinger and Chandler Parsons (both second round picks) just go to show you how well they've scouted drafts.

Didn't we just let go someone that had a hand in scouting Willie Green, Kyle Korver and Lou Williams?

[Kobblehead]

DiLeo was an amazing scout. Everyone knows this. He didn't lose his job because he's incompetent.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

I'm fine with it as long as change is made. We can't keep staying stuck in mediocrity. I love Thad Young and I believe we should keep him, Same with Jrue Holiday, and even Evan Turner to an extent but I would trade any one of them or all three for the right return.

I think Thad is more valuable that what people is giving him credit for. I do think Thad is worth or even worth more than his contract. And at this era of the NBA, long versatile athletic tweeners like Thad is valuable to match-up with stars with similar built like LBJ and Melo, who plays PF in stretches.

Jrue and Thad, IMO, are perfect complimentary guys that you can surround your star(s) with. They'd probably like the Rox version of Lin/Parsons and Asik that compliments Harden.

If you want to package ET, I'd probably package him with our 1st this year. I just don't know what kind of value you can get with it for people have mixed feelings with both ET and this year's draft.

Yeah i'm all for keeping Thad (I posted a thread about it two weeks ago). I do think it's important that we try and move up in this draft and get a scorer. I would package Turner and our pick to do it if it meant us getting our hands on Shabazz Muhammed. Plug him in at the 3 and go with Jrue, Muhammed, and Thad as our core next season. If we are re-signing Bynum great if not he can piss off but either way I really want us to grab Muhammed in the draft play him at the small forward spot and worry about shooting guard in free agency. Guys like Gary Neal, Alan Anderson, Jerryd Bayless should all come fairly affordable. We all know what Evan Turner is at this point and I think both parties could use a fresh start. Turner could help a team like Detroit (who is slated to take Muhammed at 7 I believe). Brandon Knight is more of a scoring point guard so they could let Turner kind of be the creator on offense. I don't know....Part of me say that and the other part of me say that we should keep Turner and see how he does under another coach.

[AFMan]

Interesting to see what will happen in the coming off season

[76ciology]

I'm fine with it as long as change is made. We can't keep staying stuck in mediocrity. I love Thad Young and I believe we should keep him, Same with Jrue Holiday, and even Evan Turner to an extent but I would trade any one of them or all three for the right return.

I think Thad is more valuable that what people is giving him credit for. I do think Thad is worth or even worth more than his contract. And at this era of the NBA, long versatile athletic tweeners like Thad is valuable to match-up with stars with similar built like LBJ and Melo, who plays PF in stretches.

Jrue and Thad, IMO, are perfect complimentary guys that you can surround your star(s) with. They'd probably like the Rox version of Lin/Parsons and Asik that compliments Harden.

If you want to package ET, I'd probably package him with our 1st this year. I just don't know what kind of value you can get with it for people have mixed feelings with both ET and this year's draft.

Yeah i'm all for keeping Thad (I posted a thread about it two weeks ago). I do think it's important that we try and move up in this draft and get a scorer. I would package Turner and our pick to do it if it meant us getting our hands on Shabazz Muhammed. Plug him in at the 3 and go with Jrue, Muhammed, and Thad as our core next season. If we are re-signing Bynum great if not he can piss off but either way I really want us to grab Muhammed in the draft play him at the small forward spot and worry about shooting guard in free agency. Guys like Gary Neal, Alan Anderson, Jerryd Bayless should all come fairly affordable. We all know what Evan Turner is at this point and I think both parties could use a fresh start. Turner could help a team like Detroit (who is slated to take Muhammed at 7 I believe). Brandon Knight is more of a scoring point guard so they could let Turner kind of be the creator on offense. I don't know....Part of me say that and the other part of me say that we should keep Turner and see how he does under another coach.

Same here. I also have the same feeling with ET. Personally, I just thought he doesn't have good work ethic when it comes to his conditioning and that explains why his game suffers in back to backs, how he was in a slump at the later part of the season, how DC told him to lose some weight (game quickness or getting tired less?) and how DC said he needs to have a "routine." But when he was fresh last season, he was producing at a very high level.

How much better is Muhammad compared to ET? That I don't know. But from the looks of it, I think Muhammad is better off at the SG positions. SFs in the NBA are more suited for guys who have size of a PF. I also questions Muhammad's lack of elite quickness explosiveness that could pose the same problem ET faced in the NBA. From the looks of it, both Muhammad and ET have relatively same chances in terms of being a star in the league. I see Muhammad as the scorer version of ET. Both guys bulldozes their way to the paint with their size and strength in the amateur ranks, I do see it hard for Muhammad to translate his style of play in the NBA. With that said, an ET + 1st rounder for Muhammad for me is risky for me. For both guys seems to be just a wash in some perspective.

[76ciology]

I think they also did some really questionable acquisitions like overpaying guys like Lin or Ariza (not sure) and being not outstanding in drafts (White?).

Dude, finding steals like Chase Buddinger and Chandler Parsons (both second round picks) just go to show you how well they've scouted drafts.

How bout the other guys?

The drafts I can remember them flunking were the one where they traded Batum for almost nothing. And the ones where they selected Morris (I can remember thanking them for taking him for I don't want one of those Morris brothers ending with us) over Leonard and Vuc.

With Morey and the rockets, I might be wrong, but aside from the Harden deal, they were just sort of busy acquiring role players in drafts and overpaying them then trying to convince people that "hey player x was good because our advanced statistics says so." The perfect case was the Battier for Rudy Gay deal that made everyone scratched their head back then and even for some people right now.

Personally, I think advanced statistics is just good at a certain extent. It's good at scouting our team's and our opponent's on our strengths, weaknesses. I also thought it's really good in acquiring role players for most of these guys contribute on stats that aren't available to the public. But it really takes someone who has a vision and an eye to acquire stars in this league. Like I said, if there was a bright side in the Rox recent moves it was their vision in accumulating their assets to land Harden. But aside from that, it seems all mediocrity before that.

[76ciology]

Perfect "complimentary" guys generally don't take up 20 million dollars of cap space.

Parsons is a much more versatile player than Thad( Better shooter,Defender,Scorer,ballhandler,etc) and still
On a 2nd round rookie scale.

First, I personally think Thad is better than Parsons (Sam Hinkie can defend me on this PER). Second, I think Parsons is going to get more than Thad's contract once his contract expires.

And again, I think long athletic forwards who has the size to match-up with Melo and LBJ is really valuable in this league.

Remember during the late part of the 90s and the early 2000, teams where hoarding big men to guard the Duncan's and the Shaq's of the league? Well, in this era, every team needs a forward who has a physique and athleticism like Thad. This also explains why the Spurs invested a lot in Kawhi Leonard because when the play-offs comes they'd be really handy.

[76ciology]

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20130513_Sixers__analytical_approach.html

Personally, I think advanced statistics is just good at a certain extent. It's good at scouting our team's and our opponent's on our strengths, weaknesses. I also thought it's really good in acquiring role players for most of these guys contribute on stats that aren't available to the public. But it really takes someone who has a vision and an eye to acquire stars in this league. Like I said, if there was a bright side in the Rox recent moves it was their vision in accumulating their assets to land Harden. But aside from that, it seems all mediocrity before that.

[Sixersftw]

With Morey and the rockets, I might be wrong, but aside from the Harden deal, they were just sort of busy acquiring role players in drafts and overpaying them then trying to convince people that "hey player x was good because our advanced statistics says so." The perfect case was the Battier for Rudy Gay deal that made everyone scratched their head back then and even for some people right now.

isn't that what every team without a superstar does? you shuffle role players till you strike gold. You can't overlook the rockets acquiring Harden because that is the number 1 thing that Gm's are judged upon. Danny Ainge was considered a comically bad GM till he swung the big 3 and the same with kupchek and fleecing Memphis.

Also Morey wasn't the gm when they traded for Battier. How those rockets teams did so poorly baffles the mind (tmac curse).

[Secret Lover14]

I think they also did some really questionable acquisitions like overpaying guys like Lin or Ariza (not sure) and being not outstanding in drafts (White?).

Dude, finding steals like Chase Buddinger and Chandler Parsons (both second round picks) just go to show you how well they've scouted drafts.

How bout the other guys?

The drafts I can remember them flunking were the one where they traded Batum for almost nothing. And the ones where they selected Morris (I can remember thanking them for taking him for I don't want one of those Morris brothers ending with us) over Leonard and Vuc.

With Morey and the rockets, I might be wrong, but aside from the Harden deal, they were just sort of busy acquiring role players in drafts and overpaying them then trying to convince people that "hey player x was good because our advanced statistics says so." The perfect case was the Battier for Rudy Gay deal that made everyone scratched their head back then and even for some people right now.

Personally, I think advanced statistics is just good at a certain extent. It's good at scouting our team's and our opponent's on our strengths, weaknesses. I also thought it's really good in acquiring role players for most of these guys contribute on stats that aren't available to the public. But it really takes someone who has a vision and an eye to acquire stars in this league. Like I said, if there was a bright side in the Rox recent moves it was their vision in accumulating their assets to land Harden. But aside from that, it seems all mediocrity before that.

Looking at the Batum trade, whatever the rockets got from that trade was turned into getting Ron Artest(who was still a very good player at this time borderline all-star). Similar to the Harden trade it was trading assets for a star and in this case the 3rd star to Yao and Tmac(too bad injuries derailed their careers and ultimately the rockets)

Morey isn't perfect and has some bad/meh moves like drafting Royce White and Marcus Morris and trading a 1st round pick for Terrence Williams. However, it shows that Morey was willing to gamble and has balls and it actually paid off as he was able to grab steals in the draft like Aaron Brooks, Carl Landry, Chase Budinger, and Chandler Parsons. He even got very productive undrafted free agents in Chuck Hayes and Patrick Beverly. Relatively unknown players who are able to be serviceable in the NBA and getting them on cheap contracts was Morey's talent.
In terms of trades, Morey traded trash for Scola(who complimented yao nice), rafer alston for kyle lowry(great point guard), and traded tmac's corpse for even more assets(which would lead to Harden).

As someone stated before, Morey was not the GM that traded Gay for Battier and to be honest I believe they dodged a bullet. Gay is a horrible player.During that time,Morey was an assistant for Boston who helped them collect assets that would later turn to Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen! And that is what Morey is doing in Houston. Obtaining stars and role players that fit in their system which is easier said than done.

We have to understand that Morey inherited two injury-proned stars that were always sitting on the bench. That is 45-50 million dollars of cap space sitting on the bench while the other 10 players who played made up of 20 million dollars almost made the playoffs in a very competitive West. Which was an amazing feat that nobody notices. Morey did his job and got great role players and even a 3rd star in Artest to war with Yao and Tmac. It wasn't his fault they were always injured. Fast forward to today it took 2-3 years for Morey to retool after the Yao/tmac era which is impressive. Now they have a star in Harden, youngest team, and plenty of cap space.

I'm not saying he's the best GM in the league but he's easily Top 5.

[76ciology]

Dude, finding steals like Chase Buddinger and Chandler Parsons (both second round picks) just go to show you how well they've scouted drafts.

How bout the other guys?

The drafts I can remember them flunking were the one where they traded Batum for almost nothing. And the ones where they selected Morris (I can remember thanking them for taking him for I don't want one of those Morris brothers ending with us) over Leonard and Vuc.

With Morey and the rockets, I might be wrong, but aside from the Harden deal, they were just sort of busy acquiring role players in drafts and overpaying them then trying to convince people that "hey player x was good because our advanced statistics says so." The perfect case was the Battier for Rudy Gay deal that made everyone scratched their head back then and even for some people right now.

Personally, I think advanced statistics is just good at a certain extent. It's good at scouting our team's and our opponent's on our strengths, weaknesses. I also thought it's really good in acquiring role players for most of these guys contribute on stats that aren't available to the public. But it really takes someone who has a vision and an eye to acquire stars in this league. Like I said, if there was a bright side in the Rox recent moves it was their vision in accumulating their assets to land Harden. But aside from that, it seems all mediocrity before that.

Looking at the Batum trade, whatever the rockets got from that trade was turned into getting Ron Artest(who was still a very good player at this time borderline all-star). Similar to the Harden trade it was trading assets for a star and in this case the 3rd star to Yao and Tmac(too bad injuries derailed their careers and ultimately the rockets)

Morey isn't perfect and has some bad/meh moves like drafting Royce White and Marcus Morris and trading a 1st round pick for Terrence Williams. However, it shows that Morey was willing to gamble and has balls and it actually paid off as he was able to grab steals in the draft like Aaron Brooks, Carl Landry, Chase Budinger, and Chandler Parsons. He even got very productive undrafted free agents in Chuck Hayes and Patrick Beverly. Relatively unknown players who are able to be serviceable in the NBA and getting them on cheap contracts was Morey's talent.
In terms of trades, Morey traded trash for Scola(who complimented yao nice), rafer alston for kyle lowry(great point guard), and traded tmac's corpse for even more assets(which would lead to Harden).

As someone stated before, Morey was not the GM that traded Gay for Battier and to be honest I believe they dodged a bullet. Gay is a horrible player.During that time,Morey was an assistant for Boston who helped them collect assets that would later turn to Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen! And that is what Morey is doing in Houston. Obtaining stars and role players that fit in their system which is easier said than done.

We have to understand that Morey inherited two injury-proned stars that were always sitting on the bench. That is 45-50 million dollars of cap space sitting on the bench while the other 10 players who played made up of 20 million dollars almost made the playoffs in a very competitive West. Which was an amazing feat that nobody notices. Morey did his job and got great role players and even a 3rd star in Artest to war with Yao and Tmac. It wasn't his fault they were always injured. Fast forward to today it took 2-3 years for Morey to retool after the Yao/tmac era which is impressive. Now they have a star in Harden, youngest team, and plenty of cap space.

I'm not saying he's the best GM in the league but he's easily Top 5.

Thank you for your input. This is something I want to hear. And pardon me for doubting Hinkie, but I just want to take it as a realist approach in Hinkie and not look at him as the savior for our franchise.

With regards to acquiring solid role players in the 2nd round, as a 76ers fans who are used to these kind of players, I'm not impressed. Right now, I'm leaning over Tony DiLeo's draft expertise over Hinkie or Morey.

From what I've read, Hinkie or Morey really have that VISION and it seems that their strategy to acquire a star in the league is by accumulating assets and waiting to trade it for an available star in the market. But I wouldn't discount the factor of having an owner who also shares the same vision. For instance, an owner who like to make money are more inclined to tell his guys to trade those 1sts for immediate role players to help the team. And in our new owners, I think Hinkie will have the green light to do whatever he wants to get his star.

The big problem I have with both Hinkie and Morey is how good are they in recognizing talent? For instance, the Thunders did a great job recognizing it with Westbrook. For the Rockets, their picks are more for role player type players. The 76ers had a gem in recognizing talent in Tony DiLeo, as a fan, I've always felt secured with him selecting for us. How good is Hinkie in recognizing talent? That I do not know.

I'd also like to question what's the rationale in giving Jeremy Lin and Trevor Ariza's contract? 76ers have a long history of overpaying role players like Kenny Thomas and such. Are we going to experience the same thing and be ready for an "advanced statistics" reasoning?

[76ciology]

With Morey and the rockets, I might be wrong, but aside from the Harden deal, they were just sort of busy acquiring role players in drafts and overpaying them then trying to convince people that "hey player x was good because our advanced statistics says so." The perfect case was the Battier for Rudy Gay deal that made everyone scratched their head back then and even for some people right now.

isn't that what every team without a superstar does? you shuffle role players till you strike gold. You can't overlook the rockets acquiring Harden because that is the number 1 thing that Gm's are judged upon. Danny Ainge was considered a comically bad GM till he swung the big 3 and the same with kupchek and fleecing Memphis.

Also Morey wasn't the gm when they traded for Battier. How those rockets teams did so poorly baffles the mind (tmac curse).

My bad. I didn't know Morey wasn't the one who traded Battier for Gay. I've just associated Battier with Morey due to that article where Morey was defending Battier using his advanced statistics.