Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
There is no handy manual to build a championship NBA team from scraps, but if what GM Sam Hinkie is trying to do for the Philadelphia 76ers works out, he could forget about a manual and write a best-selling book. Since Moneyball already has been taken, he could call it Saberball, and make a compelling movie out of it.
The No. 1 star would be Hinkie, of course, but a Best Supporting Actor role could go to the guy who plays his head coach or coaches. What Hinkie does over the next month or so will go a long way toward telling if two actors need to play the that role, because Hinkie must get a player at No. 3 to keep Brett Brown, his current head coach. Hinkie has been known to trade a NBA Rookie of the Year, Michael Carter-Williams, for an unknown future draft choice, but he must avoid a similar temptation now.
When asked at the recent lottery when the Sixers will have to start winning, Brown made it clear the time is now for a significant rise in the win total and the message to Hinkie was implied but just as clear: Do not trade my pick or else. There is some thought that Hinkie, who values “assets” over players, will trade the No. 3 pick in hopes of getting more lottery choices down the road. That would be an ill-conceived move with D’Angelo Russell of Ohio State sitting at No. 3.
Right now, anything can happen, but the consensus is that Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor will go No. 1 and No. 2, not necessarily in that order. That would leave Russell, a guard, as the no-brainer choice for the Sixers at No. 3, and he would be perfect for a team that already has three nice frontcourt pieces in Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid and Dario Saric. The Sixers do not need any more assets or future picks—they stand to get at least three more first-round picks next year—but they do need great players and Russell fits that description.
One thing is certain which is that Brown is ready to start winning and isn’t interested in hanging around teaching players who may or may not be NBA ready. Brown said any of the top five players in this year’s draft are “needle movers.” He said next year is the year for the Sixers to win more than they lose. If he sees Hinkie trading for another asset, he could be gone and he would have no trouble getting another head coaching job.
For a guy who values assets over people like Hinkie does, losing Brown would not be just losing a person, it would be losing arguably his most valuable asset. That’s why Hinkie needs to think long and hard before moving this pick.
Mike Gibson is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @papreps , “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
