Hinkie Update: Hanging out in Starbucks, plans to snowboard

[celticsclay]

I figured since he has been a bit of a controversial figure on this board some may be interested in what old friend Sam Hinkie is doing.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/243329/Sam-Hinkie-To-Teach-At-Stanford-Snowboard-Watch-Basketball-During-Gap-Year

"Writing this from a Starbucks in Palo Alto, CA. It’s 5 blocks from our house. My wife and I brought our boys here for this next chapter," wrote Hinkie. "The more I thought about it, the more obvious it became that a sort of gap year here was right. If we were younger, maybe we’d have backpacked around the world—I surely would have snowboarded more.

"In the meantime, if you read anything good, send it my way."

Has this guy been blackballed out of the league? Kind of surprising as he seemed to previously have been held in high regard.

[LarBrd33]

I'm writing him in for President.

[Cman]

Wish I could give him a Tommie Point for "gap year"

[LarBrd33]

Wish I could give him a Tommie Point for "gap year"

The Hinkie narrative isn't necessarily permanent.  Philly is entering into the next stage - if it's successful, history will look at what he did differently.  I assume he's waiting to see if he's vindicated before diving into another job. Good chance he will be.  As soon as next season, the world may look at Hinkie's accomplishments different.  Especially if Simmons and Embiid are all they are thought to be.

[celticsclay]

Wish I could give him a Tommie Point for "gap year"

The Hinkie narrative isn't necessarily permanent.  Philly is entering into the next stage - if it's successful, history will look at what he did differently.  I assume he's waiting to see if he's vindicated before diving into another job. Good chance he will be.  As soon as next season, the world may look at Hinkie's accomplishments different.  Especially if Simmons and Embiid are all they are thought to be.

i was hoping he could at least get a job somewhere. I worry his manifesto also didn't do him any favors on the way out.

[LarBrd33]

Wish I could give him a Tommie Point for "gap year"

The Hinkie narrative isn't necessarily permanent.  Philly is entering into the next stage - if it's successful, history will look at what he did differently.  I assume he's waiting to see if he's vindicated before diving into another job. Good chance he will be.  As soon as next season, the world may look at Hinkie's accomplishments different.  Especially if Simmons and Embiid are all they are thought to be.

i was hoping he could at least get a job somewhere. I worry his manifesto also didn't do him any favors on the way out.

My guess is he wants a breather.  Plus, he's (possibly unfairly) a laughing stock at the moment and probably isn't anxious to take a job that will get him and his new employer ridiculed.   That could change quickly if the Orchard Hinkie planted over there in Philly starts to bear fruit.

From my perspective, the intense commitment to tanking that Hinkie oversaw (per ownership directive) over a short period of time has set that franchise up for the next 15+ years.   It would take some really terrible luck or a horrible GM to mess it up.

[celticsclay]

Wish I could give him a Tommie Point for "gap year"

The Hinkie narrative isn't necessarily permanent.  Philly is entering into the next stage - if it's successful, history will look at what he did differently.  I assume he's waiting to see if he's vindicated before diving into another job. Good chance he will be.  As soon as next season, the world may look at Hinkie's accomplishments different.  Especially if Simmons and Embiid are all they are thought to be.

i was hoping he could at least get a job somewhere. I worry his manifesto also didn't do him any favors on the way out.

My guess is he wants a breather.  Plus, he's (possibly unfairly) a laughing stock at the moment and probably isn't anxious to take a job that will get him and his new employer ridiculed.   That could change quickly if the Orchard Hinkie planted over there in Philly starts to bear fruit.

From my perspective, the intense commitment to tanking that Hinkie oversaw (per ownership directive) over a short period of time has set that franchise up for the next 15+ years.   It would take some really terrible luck or a horrible GM to mess it up.

or just an embiid injury and slight simmons underperformance for it to be a complete disaster.

[PhoSita]

My guess is that he had his fair share of "advisor" and "assistant" opportunities.

Based on his manifesto, I doubt Hinkie was all that interested in taking a position of that sort.  Probably he wants to wait a bit, allow his vision in Philadelphia to be vindicated by how good the Sixers look with Simmons and Embiid on the floor, and then try to get the next GM opening.

[hwangjini_1]

My guess is that he had his fair share of "advisor" and "assistant" opportunities.

Based on his manifesto, I doubt Hinkie was all that interested in taking a position of that sort.  Probably he wants to wait a bit, allow his vision in Philadelphia to be vindicated by how good the Sixers look with Simmons and Embiid on the floor, and then try to get the next GM opening.

perhaps, though i am doubtful that any owner would let me recreate his philly plan.

[celticsclay]

My guess is that he had his fair share of "advisor" and "assistant" opportunities.

Based on his manifesto, I doubt Hinkie was all that interested in taking a position of that sort.  Probably he wants to wait a bit, allow his vision in Philadelphia to be vindicated by how good the Sixers look with Simmons and Embiid on the floor, and then try to get the next GM opening.

perhaps, though i am doubtful that any owner would let me recreate his philly plan.

It is hard to see him being given another gm position also. I think that was part of the reason that manifesto was leaked. To make him look like a fool. As it has been pointed out, there is nothing really particular brilliant in what he did either. What was most unique was ownership allowing him to do it for that long. It could be argued he didn't even execute the strategy that great as it appears he may have missed on okafor and the team is having trouble getting fair value based on his BPA strategy regardless of position.

[LarBrd33]

My guess is that he had his fair share of "advisor" and "assistant" opportunities.

Based on his manifesto, I doubt Hinkie was all that interested in taking a position of that sort.  Probably he wants to wait a bit, allow his vision in Philadelphia to be vindicated by how good the Sixers look with Simmons and Embiid on the floor, and then try to get the next GM opening.

perhaps, though i am doubtful that any owner would let me recreate his philly plan.

If Philly looks like one of the most promising young teams in the league (which could happen sooner than people think), I'm not sure why teams wouldn't be interested in Hinkie.  He proved he understood asset acquisition and made some savvy trades that utilized the team's cap space.  It should be remembered that Philly signed off on Hinkie's plan.  He's not just going to show up somewhere and force an organization to tank against it's will.   

Really though, we never got a chance to see how successful Hinkie was at actually building a team.  He jumped ship before the 76ers transitioned from asset acquisition mode to team building mode.  We don't know what kind of moves he would have made to actually convert those assets into a contending team.  Right now, all that's on his resume is that he positioned the team perfectly to acquire boatloads of young valuable star prospects.  I think Hinkie did a great job at what he set out to do, but I think other GM's could have done Hinkie's job as well as he did .  I don't know if Hinkie could do the same kind of job a guy like Danny Ainge has done in Boston (finding diamonds in the rough and building a playoff team out of scraps).   If I were Hinkie, I'd be less worried about being labelled "the guy who ruined the 76ers" (that narrative could die very soon), and more worried about being pigeonholed as the "asset acquisition guy". 

[celticsclay]

My guess is that he had his fair share of "advisor" and "assistant" opportunities.

Based on his manifesto, I doubt Hinkie was all that interested in taking a position of that sort.  Probably he wants to wait a bit, allow his vision in Philadelphia to be vindicated by how good the Sixers look with Simmons and Embiid on the floor, and then try to get the next GM opening.

perhaps, though i am doubtful that any owner would let me recreate his philly plan.

If Philly looks like one of the best young teams in the league (which could happen sooner than people think), I'm not sure why teams wouldn't be interested in Hinkie.  He proved he understood asset acquisition and made some savvy trades that utilized the team's cap space.  It should be remembered that Philly signed off on Hinkie's plan.  He's not just going to show up somewhere and force an organization to tank against it's will.   

Really though, we never got a chance to see how successful Hinkie was at actually building a team.  He jumped ship before the 76ers transitioned from asset acquisition mode to team building mode.  We don't know what kind of moves he would have made to actually convert those assets into a contending team.  Right now, all that's on his resume is that he positioned the team perfectly to acquire boatloads of young valuable star prospects.  I think Hinkie did a great job at what he set out to do, but I think other GM's could have done Hinkie's job as well as he did .  I don't know if Hinkie could do the same kind of job a guy like Danny Ainge has done in Boston (finding diamonds in the rough and building a playoff team out of scraps).   If I were Hinkie, I'd be less worried about being labelled "the guy who ruined the 76ers" (that narrative could die very soon), and more worried about being pigeonholed as the "asset acquisition guy".

he may just worry he is viewed as a loser. I may go down to palo alto to buy him a starbucks. There are few things more depressing than hanging out in a starbucks by yourself in palo alto. I am a bit worried about the guy. Sounds like he could be quite down sheepishly asking people for books to read.

[LarBrd33]

My guess is that he had his fair share of "advisor" and "assistant" opportunities.

Based on his manifesto, I doubt Hinkie was all that interested in taking a position of that sort.  Probably he wants to wait a bit, allow his vision in Philadelphia to be vindicated by how good the Sixers look with Simmons and Embiid on the floor, and then try to get the next GM opening.

perhaps, though i am doubtful that any owner would let me recreate his philly plan.

If Philly looks like one of the best young teams in the league (which could happen sooner than people think), I'm not sure why teams wouldn't be interested in Hinkie.  He proved he understood asset acquisition and made some savvy trades that utilized the team's cap space.  It should be remembered that Philly signed off on Hinkie's plan.  He's not just going to show up somewhere and force an organization to tank against it's will.   

Really though, we never got a chance to see how successful Hinkie was at actually building a team.  He jumped ship before the 76ers transitioned from asset acquisition mode to team building mode.  We don't know what kind of moves he would have made to actually convert those assets into a contending team.  Right now, all that's on his resume is that he positioned the team perfectly to acquire boatloads of young valuable star prospects.  I think Hinkie did a great job at what he set out to do, but I think other GM's could have done Hinkie's job as well as he did .  I don't know if Hinkie could do the same kind of job a guy like Danny Ainge has done in Boston (finding diamonds in the rough and building a playoff team out of scraps).   If I were Hinkie, I'd be less worried about being labelled "the guy who ruined the 76ers" (that narrative could die very soon), and more worried about being pigeonholed as the "asset acquisition guy".

he may just worry he is viewed as a loser. I may go down to palo alto to buy him a starbucks. There are few things more depressing than hanging out in a starbucks by yourself in palo alto. I am a bit worried about the guy. Sounds like he could be quite down sheepishly asking people for books to read.

Right.  The agreed narrative is that Hinkie tried and failed to put together a winner in Philly.   It's not accurate, though.   At no point during HInkie's tenure did they attempt to win games.  It was purely asset acquisition.   If Simmons, Embiid, Saric, etc live up to their potential, Hinkie will be vindicated and the narrative will die.  Until then, folks will continue misinterpreting what Hinkie set out to do and what he accomplished.  You got folks here on this forum who keep banging the "hinkie failed" drum, but it's a gross misunderstanding of what that team tried to do.  It might take 2-3 years more for us to really evaluate Hinkie's tenure and determine if it "failed" or not.    Until then, Hinkie's in a bit of limbo... sipping starbucks in palo alto and waiting for the rest of the world to catch up and understand what he was trying to do there.

There's still no guarantee it works.  Embiid could break something else.  SImmons could bust.  Okafor/Noel could prove impossible to trade.  It remains one of the most fascinating situations in the NBA - hence the countless threads about that team on this Celtic forum.

[celticsclay]

My guess is that he had his fair share of "advisor" and "assistant" opportunities.

Based on his manifesto, I doubt Hinkie was all that interested in taking a position of that sort.  Probably he wants to wait a bit, allow his vision in Philadelphia to be vindicated by how good the Sixers look with Simmons and Embiid on the floor, and then try to get the next GM opening.

perhaps, though i am doubtful that any owner would let me recreate his philly plan.

If Philly looks like one of the best young teams in the league (which could happen sooner than people think), I'm not sure why teams wouldn't be interested in Hinkie.  He proved he understood asset acquisition and made some savvy trades that utilized the team's cap space.  It should be remembered that Philly signed off on Hinkie's plan.  He's not just going to show up somewhere and force an organization to tank against it's will.   

Really though, we never got a chance to see how successful Hinkie was at actually building a team.  He jumped ship before the 76ers transitioned from asset acquisition mode to team building mode.  We don't know what kind of moves he would have made to actually convert those assets into a contending team.  Right now, all that's on his resume is that he positioned the team perfectly to acquire boatloads of young valuable star prospects.  I think Hinkie did a great job at what he set out to do, but I think other GM's could have done Hinkie's job as well as he did .  I don't know if Hinkie could do the same kind of job a guy like Danny Ainge has done in Boston (finding diamonds in the rough and building a playoff team out of scraps).   If I were Hinkie, I'd be less worried about being labelled "the guy who ruined the 76ers" (that narrative could die very soon), and more worried about being pigeonholed as the "asset acquisition guy".

he may just worry he is viewed as a loser. I may go down to palo alto to buy him a starbucks. There are few things more depressing than hanging out in a starbucks by yourself in palo alto. I am a bit worried about the guy. Sounds like he could be quite down sheepishly asking people for books to read.

Right.  The agreed narrative is that Hinkie tried and failed to put together a winner in Philly.   It's not accurate, though.   At no point during HInkie's tenure did they attempt to win games.  It was purely asset acquisition.   If Simmons, Embiid, Saric, etc live up to their potential, Hinkie will be vindicated and the narrative will die.  Until then, folks will continue misinterpreting what Hinkie set out to do and what he accomplished.  You got folks here on this forum who keep banging the "hinkie failed" drum, but it's a gross misunderstanding of what that team tried to do.  It might take 2-3 years more for us to really evaluate Hinkie's tenure and determine if it "failed" or not.    Until then, Hinkie's in a bit of limbo... sipping starbucks in palo alto and waiting for the rest of the world to catch up and understand what he was trying to do there.

There's still no guarantee it works.  Embiid could break something else.  SImmons could bust.  Okafor/Noel could prove impossible to trade.  It remains one of the most fascinating situations in the NBA - hence the countless threads about that team on this Celtic forum.

can we save him? I live close to that. I fear he could lose it.

[LarBrd33]

My guess is that he had his fair share of "advisor" and "assistant" opportunities.

Based on his manifesto, I doubt Hinkie was all that interested in taking a position of that sort.  Probably he wants to wait a bit, allow his vision in Philadelphia to be vindicated by how good the Sixers look with Simmons and Embiid on the floor, and then try to get the next GM opening.

perhaps, though i am doubtful that any owner would let me recreate his philly plan.

If Philly looks like one of the best young teams in the league (which could happen sooner than people think), I'm not sure why teams wouldn't be interested in Hinkie.  He proved he understood asset acquisition and made some savvy trades that utilized the team's cap space.  It should be remembered that Philly signed off on Hinkie's plan.  He's not just going to show up somewhere and force an organization to tank against it's will.   

Really though, we never got a chance to see how successful Hinkie was at actually building a team.  He jumped ship before the 76ers transitioned from asset acquisition mode to team building mode.  We don't know what kind of moves he would have made to actually convert those assets into a contending team.  Right now, all that's on his resume is that he positioned the team perfectly to acquire boatloads of young valuable star prospects.  I think Hinkie did a great job at what he set out to do, but I think other GM's could have done Hinkie's job as well as he did .  I don't know if Hinkie could do the same kind of job a guy like Danny Ainge has done in Boston (finding diamonds in the rough and building a playoff team out of scraps).   If I were Hinkie, I'd be less worried about being labelled "the guy who ruined the 76ers" (that narrative could die very soon), and more worried about being pigeonholed as the "asset acquisition guy".

he may just worry he is viewed as a loser. I may go down to palo alto to buy him a starbucks. There are few things more depressing than hanging out in a starbucks by yourself in palo alto. I am a bit worried about the guy. Sounds like he could be quite down sheepishly asking people for books to read.

Right.  The agreed narrative is that Hinkie tried and failed to put together a winner in Philly.   It's not accurate, though.   At no point during HInkie's tenure did they attempt to win games.  It was purely asset acquisition.   If Simmons, Embiid, Saric, etc live up to their potential, Hinkie will be vindicated and the narrative will die.  Until then, folks will continue misinterpreting what Hinkie set out to do and what he accomplished.  You got folks here on this forum who keep banging the "hinkie failed" drum, but it's a gross misunderstanding of what that team tried to do.  It might take 2-3 years more for us to really evaluate Hinkie's tenure and determine if it "failed" or not.    Until then, Hinkie's in a bit of limbo... sipping starbucks in palo alto and waiting for the rest of the world to catch up and understand what he was trying to do there.

There's still no guarantee it works.  Embiid could break something else.  SImmons could bust.  Okafor/Noel could prove impossible to trade.  It remains one of the most fascinating situations in the NBA - hence the countless threads about that team on this Celtic forum.

can we save him? I live close to that. I fear he could lose it.

If Hinkie ran for Mayor of Philly right now, would he win?  I bet he would.  He'd have Joel Embiid endorsing him after all.

What would a Sam Hinkie Presidency look like?  Maybe he'd just spend 3 years ceasing all Government spending, cut the country off from the rest of the world, let the entire national fall into disarray and chaos, then quit before the end of his term and let someone else take over with an unprecedented budget surplus to work with and the most optimism the country has had in decades.  #TrustTheProcess #HinkiePOTUSGOAT #TankAmerica