Latest Fallout From Sam Hinkie Resignation

Sam Hinkie had been considering his future with the Sixers organization over the past few weeks and decided that he wasn’t comfortable with the team’s plan for his future, which in turn led to him resigning on Wednesday, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical relays. The now former GM emailed his letter of resignation to the team’s ownership group as well as executive Jerry Colangelo, with the intention of releasing a joint announcement today, Wojnarowski writes. But the letter was leaked to the media within two hours, which eliminated Hinkie’s opportunity to inform his staff directly of his intent. It isn’t known who leaked the 13 page manifesto, but according to Wojnarowski’s sources, Hinkie suspects that it was Colangelo who made his resignation public. Hinkie was reportedly mortified that his letter was leaked, as he never intended it for public dissemination, Wojnarowski adds.

Here’s more regarding Hinkie and the Sixers:

• Colangelo wanted to turn Hinkie into a glorified director of analytics, or run him out of the organization completely, a plan that wasn’t well-received by the entire ownership group, many of whom remain loyal to Hinkie, Wojnarowski notes in the same piece. Some of the owners believe that Hinkie’s rebuilding plan would begin to bear fruit this offseason and wanted to give him more time to see it through, the Vertical scribe relays.
• The Sixers had suggested to Hinkie prior to the 2015/16 season that he hire someone who would handle the media and build relationships around the league with agents, players and GMs, a request that Hinkie wasn’t responsive or amenable to, John Gonzalez of CSNPhilly.com writes.
• In his resignation letter, Hinkie insinuated that many within the organization cared more about making a profit than building a winning franchise, chiefly CEO Scott O’Neil, Gonzalez suggests in the same piece. “With Scott O’Neil running our business operations, you are in good hands,” Hinkie said in his letter. “I can assure you that when your team is eventually able to compete deep into May, Scott will ably and efficiently separate the good people of the Delaware Valley from their wallets on your behalf. Worry not.”
• Sixers coach Brett Brown was disappointed that Hinkie stepped down but noted that the plan to bring in more front office personnel had been in place for some time, Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly relays in a series of tweets. The coach also added that the team’s rebuilding plan is still intact, Camerato notes. “We committed to the path that we said we were going to be on three years ago. We’re committed to that,” said Brown.
• Brown said that Hinkie hadn’t committed to the front office’s new collaborative process and believed a departure by the executive was a distinct possibility, though he didn’t expect things to come to a head so rapidly, tweets Derek Bodner of Philadelphia magazine.