Sam Hinkie's Plan Part 3

I think the naysayers are a little off on this one. Hinkie has said repeatedly that he believes in optionality meaning keeping your options open. The scuttlebutt says that Hinkie would have liked to have Andrew Wiggins, Dario Saric, Nerlens Noel, Avery Bradley, and D'Angelo Russell at this point. That would be a very good and balanced team.

The problem is that you don't create a team in a vacuum. There's competition. There's also chance where the draft is involved. So instead of the above the Sixers have Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel, and some other stuff. Saric will come in next year along with what could be four other first rounders (at least two will be low firsts as Miami and OKC project to do a lot better this coming year).

A few predilections of Hinkie's that we've divined so far:

• He likes to draft players with athleticism who can't shootc yet. Will he teach them to shoot? We shall see. MCW and Noel examples make this a question mark.
• He doesn't mind renting his cap space for first rounders.
• It's unclear if he's loyal to any of the players he currently has. First it was the triumvirate of Embiid, Noel and MCW then just Embiid and Noel now is Embiid on the outs?
• The rebuild, everyone thought, would succeed or fail based on the projection of Embiid. Now with Okafor  either one can succeed and the Sixers will be in great shape. To this end, it's clear that Hinkie may be one to hedge his bets.
• He seems to not be concerned at all about on-court product, chemistry, the point guard position, or veteran leadership.
• He likes second round picks. He got some great ones in 2014. Most second round picks are crap though.
• He has sat out free agency two years straight and it's unclear if he'll do anything this year.
• He is tight-lipped and feels like being tight-lipped is a strategy. It certainly adds to the talk of a Plan.

So is there a Plan?:

• Most evidence points to there being a strategy not a point-by-point plan.
• Evidence for a Plan comes from Hinkie's acquistion (or, rather, Morey's acquisition) of James Harden via a series of asset grabs and maneuvers. The Rockets though are in a perpetual wind turbine of trying to attract every big FA out there. Philly was never a big FA destination. The Sixers always had to acquire big names via trade with the exception of the Elton Brand signing. I don't see big FA acquisitions in Philly unless the team becomes a true contender.
• The whole Joel Embiid thing is bordering on ridiculous. Has Embiid deep-sixed the whole rebuild by (1) falling to the Sixers at 3 instead of Wiggins, (2) being out a year-plus, (3) giving hope that he's the next big league star despite scant evidence, (4) forcing them to take a third center in 2015? Was his pick a mulligan in 2014? 
• In sum: if there was a Plan, it's met some detours. So far it's unclear that there's a point-by-point plan. There is a strategy. It's unclear when that strategy hits Phase 2. Phase 1 is blow-up/asset acquisition. Phase 2 is going for it. On trade deadline day 2015 the team put out a new marketing campaign saying "This Starts Now" featuring Embiid, MCW, and Noel. Will things start in 2016? This is the big question, when will Hinkie finally play a hand.