By Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly Staff
When Sam Hinkie came to Philadelphia, all that we knew about him is that he subscribed to the "Moneyball" philosophy that placed an emphasis on analytics.
What we did not know is that in Hinkie's short tenure he would shape the next generation of Philadelphia sports.
The practices that became Sam Hinkie's "process" have been both praised and damned by critics. Hinkie maintained that the only way to build a team in today's star-driven NBA is to acquire stars of your own.
The state of the Sixers when Hinkie was named general manager was a team that enjoyed middling success, finishing around .500 and securing a low playoff seed year in and year out. Hinkie saw teams like this as a team in purgatory because no star will choose a team that is average and no team that makes playoffs will be able to draft a true star.
So, what was Hinkie's solution to get out of purgatory? Get on the highway to Hell.
Hinkie decided the best course of action for long term success was to sell away all of the team's assets for draft picks and cap space so that he would be able to pick from the top players in every draft and have money available to sign a big name when the time and fit was right.
Hinkie demolished the Sixers organization, so that he could establish the strong foundation that the team lacked so poorly when Jrue Holiday and Andre Iguodala were the best players on the team.
The controversial process saw the Sixers became a laughingstock in the NBA. They were accused of losing on purpose and being a glorified D-League team.
The problem with laughing at Hinkie, is that Hinkie appears to be on to something. Yes, he is no longer the general manager of the Sixers after the league may or may not have supplanted him with Bryan Colangelo, but it was Hinkie's acquisition of draft picks that led to the Sixers drafting Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Dario Saric, three players who appear to be the core of the team for the foreseeable future.
In addition to those three players, the Sixers have a scenario where they could have two top-five picks in this years NBA draft, and they hold the Sacremento Kings first round pick in 2019, who figure to be a miserable team in that year in large part due to the deals that they conducted with Hinkie.
Hinkie took the financial aspect out of acquiring talent and put a premium on patience. When that patience pays off, the Sixers will have their best players on affordable rookie contracts, and more than enough cap space to retain all of their homegrown talent.
It seems that while the world was laughing, Philadelphia general managers were listening.
Howie Roseman, Ron Hextall, and Matt Klentak all employ various methods that Hinkie used in his rise to power and fall from grace.
Howie Roseman adopted the part of Hinkie's plan where the team tears down the existing roster to build a new foundation.
Roseman wasted no time in his second term as general manager, although he does not officially hold the title this time. After Chip Kelly ripped apart the team's old core of Desean Jackson, Lesean McCoy, and Jeremy Maclin in favor of many Oregon Ducks alumni, Roseman knew that he too, was in charge of a middling team that needed to be refreshed.
The Eagles made the playoffs in two of Kelly's three seasons. At first glance, Roseman appeared to be taking over a team that needed a retooling more than rebuild.
Roseman could have just added some small upgrades and continued to battle for the division, but he decided to go the Hinkie route, and use the NFL Draft to acquire stars.
This philosophy is far more risky than in the NBA, with talent evaluations being much more difficult in the NFL than predicitng how an NBA prospect will fare in the NBA.
Roseman took the risk anyway, selling away assets like Byron Maxwell, Kiko Alonso, and multiple draft picks to conduct two trades to move to number two overall in the 2016 NFL Draft.
Roseman felt that you must have a franchise quarterback in order to win a Super Bowl in the NFL, and he took the chance to acquire the player that he felt was his star. It was a huge risk, and one that could have seen Roseman banished from the NFL, but the decision to go all-in on Carson Wentz has already paid huge dividends like attracting star free agent Alshon Jeffery.
Roseman again subscribed to a Hinkie philosophy, drafting talent over availability. Time and time again we saw Hinkie use high draft picks on players who held tremendous value, but were nursing long term injuries. Hinkie selected Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid despite their injuries, and both have gone on to become extremely valuable big men in the NBA.
In this past weekend's NFL Draft, Roseman selected Sidney Jones, arguably the best cornerback in the draft before he suffered an Achilles injury. Many teams passed on Jones, some two or three times before the Eagles took the cornerback in the second round.
Like Hinkie, Roseman is being patient by selecting an injured player that has incredible upside. Roseman even mentioned trusting the process when he was asked about Jones's future.
Phillies general manager Matt Klentak is cut from the same cloth as Hinkie as Klentak believes in analytics. Klentak has also adopted some of Hinkie's methods.
Klentak has set up the Phillies to be big spenders in upcoming winters by shedding the team's remaining big contracts. Klentak has also stockpiled prospects at every turn, including giving players who might not be ready to play on a professional level a chance to make a name for themselves, like Hinkie did with players like Robert Covington, Isaiah Caanan, and Dewayne Dedmon.
Even the Sixers' roommate at the Wells Fargo Center has seen management use some of the same methods as Sam Hinkie's Sixers.
Ron Hextall has displayed a patience that would make Sam Hinkie blush. One example is in the form of defenseman Sam Morin. Morin was a top-15 selection in the 2013 draft, and has only played one NHL game in no small part due to Ron Hextall's willingness to let players develop.
Another case is in Barry Ashbee trophy winner Ivan Provorov, who many scouts and analysts believed was ready to play in the NHL from the moment he was drafted seventh overall. However, Hextall saw no need to place Provorov in the pros, opting to return the blue liner to his junior team for an additional season.
Hextall has refused to make a splash in free agency, insisting that he will build a champion through the draft. In a short time, Hextall has given the Flyers one of the most exciting prospect pools in the NHL.
Hextall, Klentak, and Roseman have all made sacrifices to the present state of their teams in order to set up a sustained reign of dominance, a philosophy that permeated through the city the day that Sam Hinkie came to Philadelphia.
Thanks to Sam Hinkie, Philadelphia is poised to take over the sports world, and from the look of things, the Sixers, Flyers, Eagles, and Phillies will all hit their stride at the same time.
Just remember to have a moment of silence for Sam Hinkie when we are all partying down Broad Street.
