Kilroy wrote:Hinkie is massively over-rated... Not sure how you could read his goodby letter to the Sixers and still want him anywhere near your team... Dude's ego makes Elon Musk look like Ed Sheeran
Have you even read that letter? He was very transparent about his thought processes, including his own shortcomings. You can say whatever you want about GM's out there, but nobody really knows the inner workings of their minds (except for the ruthless Danny Ainge). If anything, after reading this letter, I was convinced that this guy is qualified, if not overqualified for the job.
As far as ego goes, I thought he acquitted himself well by explaining his strategies and motivations and philosophy - that's not egocentric. He doesn't pimp a personality. He is a down-to-earth low-key guy. He was behind the scenes with Daryl Morey and the MIT Sloan Conference, despite his significant role in both. He's no Magic Johnson.
And he absolutely is the smartest guy in the room. Check his credentials. He's a genius. Not only did he help launch the application of modern analytics in the NBA, first with the Rockets then the Sixers, but he's actually qualified with management (Stanford MBA) and his work with Bain Capital and private equity.
That doesn't make him merely a front office guy. Has there ever been a player who's shown such loyalty and love to a GM (and now former GM) than Embiid to Sam Hinkie? I've never seen that before or since. Hinkie is a GM who invests deeply in his team and players on a personal level - whether it's Embiid or Robert Covington or TJ McConnell. That's particularly important considering how our current front office has basically advertised to the league: "we won't respect you, we won't support you, we will lie to you if we have to."
Can't dismiss Hinkie based on the early exit from his Trust the Process approach - the Colangelos (how'd that work out lol) robbed him of the success they're having now. If you empowered Hinkie, his long term strategies will win, because while nobody is perfect in this risky game, nobody has consistently made better data-driven decisions. He is the most qualified and competent GM out there. Nobody is smarter.
