In the 2014 Draft, Hinkie collected Joel Embiid (injured), Dario Saric (2 years away), KJ McDaniels, Jordan McRae (sent to Australia), Vasilije Micic (Euro Stash), and Jerami Grant. Instead of adding as many as five good players in a very deep draft, the team immediately added only two second rounders.
There were then a series of deals (in the season and off-season) that brought in-and-out players like Ronnie Turiaf, Marquis Teague, and Andrei Kirilenko, none of whom played for the Sixers. All of these deals exacted Hinkie's "troll toll" of a second round pick.
The only free-agent acquisition the Sixers reportedly attempted was a move toward the Celtics' Avery Bradley.
The only first-rounder the Sixers obtained was for Thad Young in the Kevin Love trade.
Now Hinkie had completely blown up the team with a mess of second rounders to show for it, a first rounder that would come from Miami, an out-for-the-year center, a Euro stash guy, a center coming back from injury, and some prospects like Tony Wroten, Hollis Thompson, and Jerami Grant.
Wishful thinkers thought the team would be loaded soon with an Embiid that was the next Hakeem, Dario Saric who was the next Toni Kukoc, Nerlens Noel swatting shots, etc.
Pessimists saw a bare cupboard full of "assets."
I worried that the Sixers, like the Rockets before them, would become a revolving door team that players would avoid. No one wants to be a chess piece in someone else's game. You want to be a respected employee of a loyal organization.
The team began coalescing around MCW and Noel and new-addition Robert Covington until the 2015 trade deadline when Hinkie hit reset again. The (really) poor-shooting MCW was traded to the Suns for the Lakers first-round pick. JaVale McGee was added with a first-rounder from OKC coming to Hinkie for his troubles. Then, KJ McDaniels, who looked like a low-cost keeper, was swapped for Isaiah Canaan and yet another second-rounder. Hinkie, on that trade, said that he'd essentially gotten two 2nd rounders for one. Well, whoop-de-freakin-do. He also seemed to be high on his latest Rockets pick-up Canaan like he was on his previous Rockets scoop-ups Royce White (never made the team) and Furkan Aldemir (playing despite performance saying he shouldn't).
This reset was yet another stomach punch. What started with a bold move: Jrue for Noel and Saric, now looked like his only move: trade budding players for future picks. With no PG, Brett Brown became depressed for the first time and said he didn't want to coach a bunch of "gypsies." Isaiah Canaan looked worse than pick-up Ish Smith. Thomas Robinson, another pick-up, looked decent. Noel raised his game. Covington flitted in and out of being a good player. Aldemir got some minutes. The season ended with a whimper.
Then came the 2015 Draft. What could've been as many as four first-rounders turned out to be 1 when OKC and Miami fell out of the playoffs and the Lakers made sure that they optimized their chances of keeping a top 5 pick. The Lakers got pick 2, the Sixers pick 3. The draft went: 1 Minnesota (now with Wiggins): Karl-Anthony Towns; 2 Lakers: D'Angelo Russell; 3 Sixers: Jahlil Okafor. The Sixers then forewent their usual wheeling and dealing in round two and instead went for two low-ceiling players (JP Tokoto and Richaun Holmes) and two Euro stash picks that didn't sound like they would ever come to the US (Hinkie never really talked them up).
Now some of the "dividends" from the original blow-up were coming to fruition and none were actual material things. A bunch of detritus in the 2015 second round, some Euro stashes for later. On the court chemistry, cohesion, and consistency were thrown out the window. And, yes, Hinkie now had three potentially elite centers and no decent point or shooting guards and only Covington at SF.
Obviously Hinkie backers can say he got SOMETHING for Evan Turner, Lavoy Allen, and Spencer Hawes but when that something is a Euro Stash pick that will never come over that something is actually nothing.
The 2015 trade deadline pick-up on two first rounders in addition to the Thad Young trade (Billy King now gets to pay him in Brooklyn!) should turn up 4 firsts next year. Picking best player available should yield some decent players and hopefully begin filling out the roster, but we're talking about three LOST seasons in order to get to a fourth where your roster will still be one of the youngest in the league. Meanwhile, Hinkie has passed on Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert, and Elfrid Payton. These three guys are healthy and can play basketball well.
The next post will deal with the question of whether Hinkie has a plan.
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