Here is Sam Hinkie's 13-page resignation letter to 76ers ownership
The basketball world was rocked Wednesday night when news emerged that Sam Hinkie's process in Philadelphia had come to an abrupt end. Nearing the end of Year 3 of an extended rebuild -- that involved historic levels of losing and, hence, draft pick accumulation -- Hinkie resigned, citing that "I no longer have the confidence that I can make good decisions on behalf of investors in the Sixers."
Philadelphia's rebuild has been largely maligned, as it has been openly communicated that winning was not the top priority. Since taking over as general manager and president of basketball operations before the 2013-14 season, the 76ers have gone 47-195 -- by far the worst record in the NBA over that span.
SEE ALSO: Report: Sam Hinkie is out as 76ers GM
The futility has resulted in positive draft results, though. Philadelphia has garnered Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor as fruits of their losses, while European star Dario Saric and -- ideally -- Joel Embiid will join the fold next season. There is potential for the team to own as many as four first-round selections in this June's draft, too -- including two of the first five picks.
But when ownership brought on longtime basketball exec Jerry Colangelo to aid team building in 2015, the demise of Hinkie's intricate, numbers-based approach was clear. Just four months later, Hinkie felt he was being undermined by Colangelo and losing trust of ownership.
The end result? Hinkie's resignation, and Colangelo's eventual hiring of his son, Bryan, to replace him.
Several media outlets obtained Hinkie's 13-page resignation letter sent to team shareholders on Wednesday, which you can read in full (via Sports Illustrated), below.
Sam Hinkie Letter by Sports Illustrated
In the letter, Hinkie cites quotes from various famous thinkers and businesspeople. He concludes the letter by telling owners, "I will be repotted professionally. That is often uncomfortable; most growth is. But it's also often healthier over the longer sweep of history, too."
An excerpt from Page 4 attempts to outline why he has so strongly believed in taking this drastically different approach:
A few examples might help. Step away from basketball and imagine for a moment this is investment management, and your job is to take your client's money and make it grow. It's January 1, 2015 and the S&P 500 is $171.60, exactly the same price it has been since January 1, 1985. No fluctuation up or down. Flat every single day. And your job for every day of the past 30 years is to make money for your clients by investing. What would you do?
In the NBA, that's wins. The same 82 games are up for grabs every year for every team. Just like in 1985 (or before). To get more wins, you're going to have to take them from someone else. Wins are a zero-growth industry (how many of you regularly choose to invest in those?), and the only way up is to steal share from your competitors. You will have to do something different. You will have to be contrarian.
As he notes on Page 12, Hinkie leaves Philly with the team in prime position to take the step toward competitiveness as soon as next year.
Your club is on solid footing now, with much hard work yet to be done. As we continued to invest in young players, acquire more draft selections, and maintain cap flexibility the forward-looking markets took notice. Our Future Franchise Rankings (ESPN's) that began at 24th in a 30-team league in May of 2013 climbed to 19th in 2014, 17th in 2015, and most recently via RealGM's rankings in December of 2015, 12th. I think that is imminently reasonable, as is a couple of spots higher.
It seems that the Sixers will be moving ahead with Jerry and Bryan Colangelo running the show. During Bryan Colangelo's most recent stint as NBA exec with Toronto, infamous mishaps included drafting Andrea Bargnani first overall in 2006, handing a $20 million contract to Landry Fields and trading assets and draft compensation for Rudy Gay, who was traded months later under a new Toronto regime.
For three years, 76ers fans were sold on a drawn-out, losing process resulting in one of the NBA's best homegrown rosters. Now, with Hinkie out of the picture and the Colangelos in charge, there's no telling where the franchise is headed now that ownership has pulled the plug on the process before it got to bear significant fruit.
- By John Dorn
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