When the Sixers pulled the trigger on the trade which netted them Jimmy Butler on Saturday, it felt like the culmination of the process. The full circle of events. The trade itself, on the court, is a massive talent upgrade and will unquestionably help the Sixers. Off the court, well we’ll see, Jimmy Butler is a unique personality and it is yet to be known the effect that he will have on the locker room. But, breaking down Butlers fit is for another day, today I want to look back over the last five years to explain exactly how the Sixers were able to trade for Jimmy Butler and end up with three stars.
The only logical place to start is the 2013 NBA draft, the first of Sam Hinkie’s illustrious, yet short, tenure as the Sixers General Manager. That night, Sam Hinkie traded Jrue Holiday, the Sixers only relevant piece at the time, for the #6 pick that night (Nerlens Noel) as well as a future 2014 draft pick. To me, I was pissed that night because Holiday was my favorite player at the time and I had yet to embrace the tank, as I would in the coming months. That 2013-2014 year, Sam Hinkie traded every and any asset that had any value and stripped the team down to a point where they were officially tanking. The team was honest to the fan base as to what they were doing and about their strategy of sacrificing in the now to win later.
Those 2013-2014 Sixers finished 19-63, which would be their best record over the course of a 3 year span. Enter 2014 lottery night, the night Sixers fans had been waiting for. This was the night the team would get the #1 overall pick and another high lottery pick (acquired for Holiday) and jump-start a team that desperately needed stars. The Sixers got the 3rd pick and the 10th, not bad, but not #1 where the team could take 2014’s darling Andrew Wiggins. Instead, the Sixers got an injured big man, who slipped in the draft because of injury, maybe you’ve heard of him by now, his name is Joel Embiid and he is one of the best ten players in the NBA despite hardly having played 100 NBA games.
Joel Embiid was originally a gut punch for Sixers fans, at that point in time the fan base felt as if they were promised a reward for the 2014-2015 season after intentionally losing, but Hinkie took the best value and hoped it would pay off in the long run. It would, just not quickly enough to salvage his job.
On to the second pick of the 2014 draft for the Sixers, who sat now at #10 overall, this is where it gets really fun. By all accounts Sam Hinkie was in love with an overseas prospect from Croatia named Dario Saric. However, Saric slipped that night because in the lead up to the draft he signed a deal with his Euro team that would prevent him from coming to the NBA for at least two years. So what does Sam Hinkie do? Well, he of course drafts Saric. No wait, he doesn’t, he drafts Elfrid Payton, which caused an out of this world awkward reaction with Michael Carter-Williams, who was doing an interview when the pick was made. So why did Hinkie do this? The answer is simple, in poker you don’t just play your cards, you play the table. Hinkie played the table that night. He knew the Magic, picking at 12, wanted Payton. So what does Hinkie do? He immediately gets on the phone and asks Orlando what they want to give Philly in exchange for Payton. Well, Hinkie got Saric, but in addition, he got the full rights back to the teams 2016 first round pick that it lost in the Dwight Howard, Andre Iquodala, Andrew Bynum trade. That pick eventually became…Ben Simmons, but it should also be noted that due to the protections on the pick that did exist, the Sixers would have gotten Simmons regardless. However, ensuring that you have a first round pick in two years, when you still won’t be a contender, is a major win for moving up two slots in the draft, and oh yeah, they also got the best player in Dario, despite having to wait two years.
While the 2014 draft may have been over, Sam Hinkie was still wheeling and dealing. Somewhere in his scouting, Hinkie became in love with a lanky athletic wing who had been active for only 7 NBA games in 2013 and had been tearing up the NBA D-League. Hinkie signed a guy named Robert Covington to a 4 year deal, for only 3 million, in November of 2014. Covington was famously dubbed by Deadspin as a guy who was in Philly simply to help them lose. But, this is where “The Process” gets misunderstood. Yes, the goal is to put teams that will not compete on the court in order to get high draft picks in hopes of getting a superstar, but during that time when the team is losing, player development is key. It’s tough to get young kids NBA minutes and give them time to grow. Robert Covington would become the poster child for player development over the next couple years, growing into one of the better NBA “3 and D” guys out there. He played his way into a 48 million dollar contract this past season.
We know how the rest goes, Hinkie misses and drafts Jahlil Okafor, Embiid gets injured for a second year, Saric doesn’t come over, Hinkie steps down, Colangelo, the man with the large collars, drafts Ben Simmons, trades a high pick to draft Markelle Fultz, burner gate happens and then, well here we are. At least that’s the express version. In steps Elton Brand, new Sixers General Manager and their 3rd in just five years. Brand has been open about the Sixers adding another star, either through free agency, a trade or the draft. Somewhere this summer, Jimmy Butler decides he doesn’t like the compete level of Andrew Wiggins and Karl Anthony-Towns and forces his way into a situation where the Timberwolves lose all trade leverage and have to get rid of him. I’m sure the negotiations were long and there was a lot of back and forth, but eventually Covington, the man acquired off the scrap heap, and Dario Saric, the man acquired for Jrue Holiday became the two key cogs of a trade for a top 15ish player.
Five years after Hinkie becoming the GM, the team pushes the asset he acquired in his very first trade, Dario, and a man he chose to gamble on, Covington, for a legitimate NBA Star. Poetry in motion. From his office at Stanford, or wherever he is, I like to think Sam Hinkie smiled when he found out Elton Brand completed his process. It reminded me of how Houston turned and churned their way into acquiring James Harden, a trade which Hinkie was a part of as well. It’s amazing the man isn’t a GM of a team. Call it luck or whatever you want, but Sam Hinkie gave the team multiple shots at acquiring a star and developing talent. If you shoot enough shots eventually one goes in and today the Sixers roster sits with a top-tier player in Joel Embiid, a perennial All-Star in Jimmy Butler and an elite facilitator and young talent in Ben Simmons, all of whom can be largely attributed to Sam Hinkie. No matter what happens in the ensuing seasons, Elton Brand finished what Hinkie started so long ago and the process has now come full circle.
By Peter Gumas
1204 Sports 