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Sam Hinkie Spins the Wheel of Fortune – Again

By Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck)

You’d be hard pressed to name a GM of a bad team that’s received more coverage than Sam Hinkie. Part of this is by default; the Sixers players aren’t exactly compelling news on a night-to-night basis. As a result, the manipulation of Philadelphia’s head honcho becomes the story instead.

Trading Michael Carter-Williams is his most fascinating move to date. He made splashes jettisoning players like Jrue Holiday and Thaddeus Young, but they were decidedly pieces from the “old regime”. Moving on from that pair – as well as holdovers Spencer Hawes and Evan Turner – was not just about cashing out on a quartet of middling players. Hinkie was turning the page on prior management, reshaping the roster to fit his own vision.

We’re a long way from seeing how that turns out, but Carter-Williams could be counted among the first of his guys. Carter-Williams was selected in Hinkie’s first draft to fill the vacancy left by Holiday, and he performed admirably while saddled with a dismal supporting cast.

The Sixers made real progress over the last couple months, pushing into the top half of the league in defensive rating and challenging contenders like Atlanta, Cleveland and Golden State. Leveraging the 6-foot-6 Carter-Williams was instrumental in that development; he allowed Philly to switch on screens and avoid typical mismatches. Good point guards seem to be growing on trees, but guys who fit the go-go-gadget-arms mold Hinkie covets are a tad rarer.

Despite this, Hinkie is gambling on his belief that the organization gained enough intel on him to move on in less than two seasons. He was comfortable dealing him – for a high-value pick, I might add – because the value and fluidity of the Lakers pick outweighed who he believed Carter-Williams could become.

The logic is apparent. Even if the Sixers don’t ultimately keep the pick, it’s much easier to use in a trade than Carter-Williams is. Point guard is not just the deepest position in the league, but a difficult place to play a non-shooter. Philadelphia simply has more options with the pick in their possession. Options are only valuable if you can make the correct decision, which is the challenge for Hinkie moving forward.

Other deadline trades were more impactful in the short-term, but none are connected to so many pieces of machinery. 10 years out, we’ll point to this move as assertion of Hinkie’s mad genius, or simply a sign of a man gone mad.

Next: Denver acquires Cenk “The Tank” Akyo