Sam Hinkie Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Hollins, Hinkie, Johnson

December 9th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Nets GM Billy King denied a report that he’s seeking a replacement for coach Lionel Hollins, though he appeared hesitant to make any long-term promises about the coach, observes Brian Lewis of the New York Post.

“It’s funny because I think the report said it was management — and I’m management. So there was no truth to that,’’ King said to Sarah Kustok of the YES Network, as Lewis transcribes. “I’ve talked to ownership, and — right now — Lionel is our coach and we’re working to try to turn this around.”

King also told Kustok that the Nets would explore making roster moves but that the team would give the current roster a chance “until we can find another option,” notes Andy Vasquez of The Record. See more on the Nets amid the latest from the Atlantic Division:

Brook Lopez, who re-signed with the Nets on a three-year max deal this past summer, called for stability, as Lewis relays in his piece. “We’re working on something here and we’ve had turnover year in and year out since I’ve been here. It’s tough to find continuity if you keep changing personnel,’’ Lopez said. “We have to find something that’s working for us and continue to work with the pieces we have and improve.’’
Sam Hinkie is still Sixers GM, but the addition of Jerry Colangelo to the front office depletes his power to the point that it’s as if he’s not there anymore, a source told Tom Moore of Calkins Media. “It’s clear [Hinkie] has, for all intents and purposes, been fired,” the source said, adding that he believes Colangelo’s son Bryan Colangelo, who was once GM of the Suns and Raptors, will be involved. League executives who spoke with Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer cast doubt on the idea that Hinkie will stay with the organization much longer.
Amir Johnson‘s positive personality, as well as his defensive versatility, are what make the Celtics offseason signee especially valuable, coach Brad Stevens said, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald relays.

Atlantic Notes: Hinkie, Perkins, Young

December 8th, 2015 at 8:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The reports that the league office and other team owners played a role in the Sixers‘ hiring of Jerry Colangelo as chairman of basketball operations are troubling and could set a bad precedent for the future, Tom Ziller of SBNation opines. The SBNation scribe also points out that many of the same owners complaining about Philadelphia’s tanking didn’t vote for lottery reform when given the opportunity, and Ziller notes that it’s likely due to those franchises hedging their bets in case they need to rebuild in that manner in the future.

Here’s more from the Atlantic:

Outside of the Celtics trading him to the Thunder back in 2011, center Kendrick Perkins believes Danny Ainge, Boston’s president of basketball operations, has done an excellent job in rebuilding the franchise, Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald writes. “[They’ve done] a great job,” said Perkins. “I can’t recall them really going through a real bad rebuilding process. It’s been steady. Like right now, when they come in, guys are really preparing for them like one of the good teams in the league. They’ve got a nice team. They’ve been playing really well. You can tell they play together like it’s a family.”
It’s been difficult for coach Brad Stevens to find enough playing time to go around on a deep Boston squad, but the coach believes it’s just part of the Celtics‘ growing process, Bulpett notes in the same piece. “How many guys are on our team, 15?” Stevens told Bulpett. “I’ve talked to all 15 about it. It’s all part of the experience, not only of a normal team but just of our depth, especially in the frontcourt. So you just try to keep those conversations alive. The one thing that I think that these guys know, and I hope they would say this, is that my door is always open to talk.”
Conventional wisdom will credit Sixers GM Sam Hinkie only partially, if that, should the Sixers’ rebuilding plan bear fruit now that Colangelo is on board, but Hinkie would get all the blame if the plan fails, posits Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
Nets combo forward Thaddeus Young has seen how quickly other players’ NBA careers have ended, and he uses that as his motivation to keep working to improve, Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders writes. “You see guys come and go each and every year,” Young told Camerato. “I saw how quickly it could become a situation where you don’t know if you’re going to be in the NBA, D-League or overseas. It’s definitely an eye-opening experience. You do see a lot of guys on other teams and you say, ‘Man he was good. Seeing those type of guys being able to play this game and then they’re not in the league anymore, it’s crazy.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Sixers Hire Jerry Colangelo To Front Office Role

December 7th, 2015 at 10:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

Gary A. Vasquez/USA Today Sports Images

10:28pm: NBA owners have been pressuring the league’s front office since the summer of 2014 to do something about the Sixers’ rebuilding plan, sources told ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst.

7:17pm: League commissioner Adam Silver played a significant role in the Sixers’ decision to hire Colangelo, including placing a call to Colangelo to gauge his interest, sources told USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt.

3:44pm: The Sixers have hired USA Basketball chairman and longtime NBA executive Jerry Colangelo to serve in their front office, the team announced via press release and in a press conference. Colangelo will hold the titles of Special Advisor to the Managing General Partner and Chairman of Basketball Operations. The statement doesn’t specify whether Colangelo will continue with Team USA, but he’s said in the past that he would stay through the 2020 Olympics. Sixers GM Sam Hinkie will continue in his capacity in charge of day-to-day basketball operations, owner Josh Harris said, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (on Twitter).

Hinkie will still have the final say on personnel, though “a lot of collaboration and discussion” will be involved in the team’s roster moves, Colangelo said, according to Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post (Twitter link). The deal for the 76-year-old Hall-of-Famer to join the Sixers came together within the past week, Colangelo said, according to John Gonzalez of CSNPhilly.com (on Twitter).

“It’s not every day you have the opportunity to work alongside a Hall of Famer with Jerry’s unique set of experiences,” Hinkie said in the team’s statement. “I feel incredibly fortunate to have him as part of our organization.”

Hinkie has served as the team’s GM since May 2013, and with Harris’ support, he’s embarked on an extreme rebuilding project of the likes the NBA has never seen before. Colangelo built the Suns up from expansion as its primary basketball executive from its inception in 1968 until 1994. He won the Executive of the Year award four times.

“This is not a deviation from our plan. … We believe we are entering the next phase of our process,” Harris said, according to Jake Fischer of SI Now (on Twitter).

Fallout From Sixers Hiring Of Jerry Colangelo

December 7th, 2015 at 5:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

Sixers owner Josh Harris said GM Sam Hinkie will remain in charge of day-to-day basketball operations and that the hiring of Jerry Colangelo to the front office isn’t a deviation from the team’s rebuilding plan, but not everyone believes that the move doesn’t represent a sea change. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports casts it as a reduction of power for Hinkie and hears that several executives around the league are wondering whether Colangelo will eventually persuade the Sixers to hire son Bryan Colangelo, the former Suns and Raptors GM. Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com hears speculation that Jerry Colangelo will end up with an ownership stake in the Sixers (Twitter link). Still, owner Josh Harris insists not much will be different, as Tom Moore of Calkins Media relays (on Twitter).

“We’re still committed to the process,” Harris said. “We’re committed to Sam. Don’t expect radical changes to the process.”

See more on Philadelphia’s surprising hire:

Harris admitted to reporters that he’s frustrated amid the team’s slow start, Moore tweets, and that he hopes that Colangelo will expedite the team’s rebuilding process, notes Dan Gelston of The Associated Press (Twitter link). Sixers management lost patience amid 20 losses in 21 games so far and a series of unflattering reports about Jahlil Okafor‘s alleged off-court behavior, Wojnarowski writes in the same piece.
Coach Brett Brown said he believes the team will take free agency and the value of veteran players more seriously in the wake of the move, observes Derek Bodner of Philadelphia magazine (on Twitter).
The addition of Colangelo gives the Sixers an agent-friendly presence, notes Mark Perner of the Philadelphia Daily News (Twitter link). The team has reportedly upset agents with its tactics the past few years. “I went through four and a half decades of basketball on handshakes with agents and players,” Colangelo said, as Moore tweets. “My job is to be here to help.”
It was Harris who reached out to Colangelo about joining the organization, Colangelo said, according to Gelston (on Twitter).
Colangelo will continue to live in Phoenix, but he’s excited about the ability to collaborate with Hinkie, as Moore chronicles (Twitter links). “I think I can offer a lot of mentoring to Sam and make him even better at his job,” Colangelo said.
Colangelo, who ran basketball operations for the Suns from the team’s inception in 1968 until 1994, is anxious to help the Sixers rebuild, as Jake Fischer of SI Now relays (Twitter link). “I’m intrigued quite honestly,” Colangelo said. “During my years in Phoenix, I tore down the team four times and came back four times.”
Hinkie called it a “a really good day for the Sixers,” and said he feels positively about the hiring of Colangelo, whom the GM believes “will be a breath of fresh air in a lot of ways,” as USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Moore all relay (All four Twitter links). “I think we’re ready to go to the next phase,” Hinkie said. “Jerry knows every player, every coach. His knowledge will be invaluable.”

Sixers Rumors: McConnell, Roster, Embiid, Stauskas

October 18th, 2015 at 11:02am CST by Arthur Hill

Undrafted rookie T.J. McConnell is making a strong bid for a roster spot, according to Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He is one of six point guards on the roster, but with Tony Wroten and Kendall Marshall both injured, an opportunity exists for McConnell, who had 10 points and 10 assists Friday in his first preseason start. Sixers coach Brett Brown says the rookie has a “very, very acute” self-awareness and understanding of the game. “He’s a point guard,” Brown said. “I’ve said it all along that point guards are born. He thinks and acts and does things like a point guard.”

There’s more out of Philadelphia:

Brown said keeping just three point guards on the roster will be “tricky” if Wroten and Marshall aren’t available at the start of the season, tweets Tom Moore of Calkins Media. The coach adds that, “We’re not going to cut down [the roster] until the death knock” because there have been so many injuries (Twitter link). “This whole thing is fluid and changes on a dime,” said Brown, who wants to take a longer look at his younger players (Twitter link).
Brown is taking issue with things that were said about Joel Embiid in a recent SI.com article, writes Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News. Brown was especially upset about the allegation that Sixers majority owner Josh Harris ordered the coach and GM Sam Hinkie to tell Embiid not to go to Las Vegas for the team’s summer camp, and when neither one did, Embiid showed up. “When you read about what’s now been written, there are several portions that are wildly inaccurate,” Brown said. “That [directives from Harris] being one of them. I have no idea what that means or why it was said. It’s just one of those things that we move on from. We’re pretty much treating it as noise and we will move on from it.”
Nik Stauskas hasn’t played yet in the preseason, but is hoping to be ready before opening night, Cooney writes in the same piece. Acquired in a July trade with the Kings, Stauskas has been recovering from a stress reaction in his right tibia. “I felt great today and really got in a good sweat at the morning shootaround,” he said Saturday. “I’m really not feeling any pain and my legs feel really strong. I should be ready soon.”

Latest On Sixers, Joel Embiid

October 16th, 2015 at 10:05am CST by Chuck Myron

Joel Embiid put off foot surgery this summer to party and play basketball in Las Vegas this summer, and the Sixers have been frustrated with his attitude and insubordination, sources detailed to Brian Geltzeiler of SI.com’s The Cauldron. Sixers majority owner Josh Harris didn’t want Embiid to accompany the Sixers to the Las Vegas Summer League in July, preferring that Embiid undergo the surgery doctors prescribed for his slow-healing right foot, and Harris instructed GM Sam Hinkie and Brett Brown to ensure he didn’t attend. Neither kept the former No. 3 overall pick from traveling to Las Vegas, multiple sources tell Geltzeiler. Embiid didn’t appear in games, but he shot jumpers and dunked on the side and refused to wear a medically prescribed walking boot, Geltzeiler hears. Surgery didn’t take place until August.

Hinkie has expressed a desire for Embiid to be more focused in his rehab, but he said around the time of Embiid’s surgery that the center had adhered to the recovery plan laid out for him. Embiid’s diet and conditioning have nonetheless worried the Sixers, multiple sources tell Geltzeiler, who also hears that Embiid physically threatened a Sixers strength coach last season.

Sixers majority owner Josh Harris remains firmly in Hinkie’s corner in spite of the issues regarding Embiid and other concerns around the team, but sources suggested to Geltzeiler that others within the ownership structure are losing patience. Last season’s Michael Carter-Williams trade riled and surprised Brown, multiple league sources tell Geltzeiler, though Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reported in the spring that while Brown didn’t fully support the move, the tension between him and Hinkie was minimal.

Geltzeiler’s sources also say Scott O’Neil, who sits atop the team’s business operations as its CEO, was angry and caught off guard by the trade, as he’d planned to market around Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel. However, Sixers spokesperson Michael Preston denied any discord surrounding the move, calling it “unsubstantiated rumor” and “a gross mischaracterization of the events” in an email response to Geltzeiler’s inquiry. O’Neil said in a recent interview with Jake Fischer of SI Now that the team’s business department has come to terms with the trade and is excited about the club’s assets for the long term, which include a future first-round pick from the Lakers that came in that same Carter-Williams deal (Twitter link).

Dario Saric, another of Philadelphia’s prospects for the future, remains under contract with Turkey’s Anadolu Efes, and his father is pushing the Sixers away, a source tells Geltzeiler. Saric has denied that his father is exerting undue influence. Saric and the Sixers both reportedly wanted him to join Philadelphia in time for this season, but the first escape clause in his deal isn’t until next summer.

Sixers Notes: Hinkie, Embiid, Brown, Landry

October 1st, 2015 at 12:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

Sixers owner Josh Harris admits that it’s difficult to watch his team lose, but he insists that he doesn’t want to sacrifice the franchise’s long-term rebuilding plan, notes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). Harris is still supportive of GM Sam Hinkie, pointing to the work he’s done via trade, and he doesn’t question the team’s decision to draft Joel Embiid third overall last year despite the fact that he’s likely to miss a second season in a row because of his ailing right foot, as Tom Moore of Calkins Media observes (All Twitter links).

‘When we drafted Joel, it was a good risk to take. I was really disappointed [about the news of his second foot surgery],” Harris said. “When you talk to the doctors, they’re quite optimistic. You have to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”

See more from Philadelphia:

Harris and Hinkie didn’t talk about an extension for coach Brett Brown, whose contract expires at the end of the 2016/17 season, but they made it clear they’re fond of him. “I give Brett an A for the job he’s done. He’s an incredible player development person,” Harris said, according to Moore (Twitter links). “I hope and expect Brett to be around the team for a long, long time.” Hinkie believes Brown has also excelled in ways that aren’t readily apparent, as Pompey relays. “I’m proud to see all of you like Brett Brown as much as I like Brett Brown,” Hinkie said to reporters, including Moore, as he pointed to stories about the idea of an extension. “It’s been a real pleasure — and I suspect it’ll continue to be a real pleasure — to work with him. He and I have a great relationship. He’s been a fantastic partner.”
Carl Landry is still about five or six weeks away from a return following June 2nd surgery to repair a torn ligament in his wrist, but Hinkie indicated that the team intends for him to stick around despite his status as a veteran who’s making a relatively sizable amount of money, as Pompey details. His $6.5MM salary is the highest on the team. “We talked a lot about this situation and how it’s different the way people might perceive it [as nothing more than a salary dump], and the importance of his voice and how that might matter,” Hinkie said. “That doesn’t take away from his game. I think he will be able to play fine.”
Nik Stauskas, whom the Sixers acquired along with Landry via trade this summer, regrets approaching his rookie year last season with trepidation, as he tells Pompey for a separate piece. “Coming into last year, I had no clue what to expect,” Stauskas said. “I was a little bit nervous, maybe a little bit scared. Coming into the NBA for me was almost a different ball game. Looking back on it, that was probably one of the biggest mistakes I made. It’s still just basketball. It just happens to be with different players in a different league.”
Undrafted rookie Christian Wood has just a $50K guarantee on his deal with the Sixers, but he’s looked impressive so far, Pompey opines. Brown has praise for the power forward, and particularly for the development of his three-point shot.

Sixers Notes: Wroten, Bogans, Embiid

July 13th, 2015 at 9:28pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Sixers didn’t approach this summer with any more urgency to improve than in previous offseasons, as GM Sam Hinkie tells Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News.

“Not a lot,” Hinkie said when asked if he felt an immediacy to win more games this season. “We try to be opportunistic year-round, not just summer-to-summer, but year-round. We try to predict what opportunities might come our way and think ahead of time about what opportunities we might be interested in and what ones we would clearly let pass. The flow of those opportunities is uncertain. We don’t ever know when they’ll come but we try to be out in a lot of those situations to understand what might happen.”

Here’s more from Philadelphia:

Tony Wroten is expected to return from a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee at the start of the upcoming regular season, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Wroten had season-ending surgery last February.
Keith Bogans said Philadelphia never called him when he was traded to the Sixers prior to last season, Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com tweets. Two weeks later, Bogans was waived and didn’t receive a call from the franchise about that either.
Tom Moore of the Calkins Media examines the news of Joel Embiid‘s latest setback from an optimistic point of view. Moore argues that Embiid’s missed time will allow the Sixers to see if Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor can co-exist on the floor together.

Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Winslow, Knicks

June 20th, 2015 at 9:42pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Sixers own the No. 3 selection in Thursday’s draft and Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor are expected to be off the board by the time Philly picks. Tom Moore of Calkins Media speculates what the team will do should either big man fall to them. If the draft goes as expected, the Sixers will most likely choose between D’Angelo Russell, Kristaps Porzingis and Emmanuel Mudiay, who I opined should be the selection in the franchise’s Offseason Outlook. Moore notes that the team could easily trade down in the draft or make some other unexpected move, citing GM Sam Hinkie‘s unconventional approach in the past.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division

The Sixers have worked out Justise Winslow, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. The forward should be an impact defender for a team right away, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors explains in his Prospect Profile of the forward.
Tim Bontemps of the New York Post examines the journey that Winslow has taken through high school and college to become a surefire lottery selection. Winslow is reportedly the “leader in the clubhouse” to be taken by the Knicks with their No. 4 overall pick. Scarito has Winslow going to New York in his latest Mock Draft.
The Knicks worked out Frank Kaminsky and Joshua Smith in addition to working out Trey Lyles and Kevon Looney yesterday, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link).

Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Young, Nets, Celtics

May 24th, 2015 at 1:58pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Sixers hold the third overall pick in this year’s draft and the team will select the player that they believe will be the best player long-term rather than the player who’s more NBA ready now, Tom Moore of Calkins Media writes.

“We’ll spend all the available time between now and then to try to gain all the information we can to make good decisions,” GM Sam Hinkie said. “By design, we’ll have to make a decision at the end of June. I think it’s really a mistake to make one sometimes much, much earlier.”

Many executives believe the Sixers will take D’Angelo Russell, but selecting Emmanuel Mudiay remains a possibility due to his potential. Moore wonders what the team will do if either Jahlil Okafor or Karl-Anthony Towns fall to the third pick. He believes the team would keep Towns, but it would look to trade Okafor, potentially to the Knicks for their fourth overall pick and an additional asset. New York cannot trade a first round pick until 2018, but that might work for Hinkie, who appears to be one of the most patient executives in the league.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Joseph Young will work out for the Nets, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily writes. Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks the Oregon product as the 40th best prospect, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranks him as the 53rd. Brooklyn holds the No. 29 and No. 41 picks in this year’s draft.
The Celtics need to improve their talents and cannot afford to pass on free agents this summer, Jackie MacMullan of the Boston Globe opines (Video link). MacMullan concedes that a top target, such as LaMarcus Aldridge, could be difficult to obtain, but even if that is the case, the team needs to add players from the next tier of free agents. She suggests Khris Middleton and Tobias Harris as potential targets. DeMarre Carroll could be another option, as Boston reportedly has interest in the forward. The Celtics have slightly more than $40.4MM in guaranteed salary on the books for the 2015/16 against a projected $67.1MM salary cap. The team could sign a few mid-tier free agents in order to improve on their 40-win campaign.