8/28/98- Camden, NJ
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly. PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
Mike Sielski, Inquirer Columnist Posted: Sunday, July 27, 2014, 1:09 AM
There are no two more intriguing sports figures in Philadelphia these days than Chip Kelly and Sam Hinkie. No one else comes close, and the two of them are fascinating for the same reasons.
No one else wields as much influence over any of the city's four major franchises as these men do, and no one else has shown the same willingness to flout the conventional wisdom of his respective sport.
The Eagles held their first training-camp practice Saturday - exactly one month after the NBA held its annual player draft - so it seemed an appropriate time to point out the philosophical line that separates two of the town's teams from the other two. It's a stark divide, and Kelly and Hinkie are the cause of it.
On one side are the Phillies and the Flyers, who have long believed their reluctance to change, their adherence to tradition, is a strength. For a while now, they have been caught up in the habit of "going for it every year" with too little regard for the trends, the innovations, or the economic realities of their respective leagues.
No matter the failing, whether an out-of-hand dismissal of sabermetrics and analytics or an inability to recognize how the NHL's evolution would place a premium on elite defensemen, each franchise has seen every problem as fixable as long as it throws enough money at it. Only now are both organizations coming to understand the limitations of their approaches, and only now are they beginning to course-correct. (The Flyers, under new general manager Ron Hextall, are further along in that process, in part because of Hextall's fondness for hoarding young defensemen, in part because their scalps are already pressed against the salary cap's ceiling.)
On the other side are the Eagles, with Kelly as their head coach, and the 76ers, with Hinkie as their general manager. It's an understatement to suggest that they are going about things a bit differently.
Consider Kelly, hired after the Eagles tried to buy themselves a Super Bowl and instead plummeted to the bottom of the NFC East. He has changed how the Eagles play, how they eat, how they train, how they practice, when they practice, what kinds of players the front office ought to be acquiring and why, what kinds of criteria ought to be used to evaluate players and why - all of it captured in that single stunning decision in March, when the team released its best wide receiver, DeSean Jackson.
These were not tweaks, not minor modifications. These changes have been part, instead, of a rethinking of how a franchise should operate to maximize its opportunities to excel not just for one season but over the long term.
Hinkie shares that goal, though the road he has chosen for the Sixers requires more patience to tread. When he drafted Joel Embiid and Dario Saric - the former injured and unlikely to play this season, the latter locked into a pro contract in Turkey for at least another two years - he reaffirmed that everyone should take him at his word when he says that he and the Sixers' owners will take their time in trying to construct a roster that can sustain success. This is not a man who believes in a quick fix.
"You can see it in Europe a lot" in soccer, Hinkie said in an interview last fall. "A team loses to a bad opponent, and they threaten to fire the coach. And the newspapers rise up and say, 'Enough. We need a change in leadership because we're 4-1.' And they literally fire people like that. Now everything's going to be great, and they win the next three. Then they lose two in a row, and they fire that guy, and they go through it time and time again. You can operate that way, but you can't build anything with any staying power - anything, anything at all.
"Being tired of losing doesn't change the fact that if you start a war against an army you can't beat, you'll lose, tragically. I love that we're all passionate about what we want and how bad we want it now. I am, too. It just doesn't change the realities of what is required."
There are, of course, no guarantees attached to Hinkie's plan, which distinguishes him from his predecessors, whose refusal to bottom out and begin again made certain that the Sixers had absolutely no hope of competing for a championship.
But that's the fun in watching what he and Kelly are doing - that they're daring to be innovative, that no one knows what they'll do next or how this all will turn out.
Someone said to me the other day that no one's tried to win an NBA title in the manner Sam Hinkie is trying to win one. The same can be said of Chip Kelly and the Super Bowl. To that assertion, there's only one appropriate response: Cool.
8/28/98- Camden, NJ
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly. PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
Mike Sielski, Inquirer Columnist Posted: Sunday, July 27, 2014, 1:09 AM
There are no two more intriguing sports figures in Philadelphia these days than Chip Kelly and Sam Hinkie. No one else comes close, and the two of them are fascinating for the same reasons.
No one else wields as much influence over any of the city's four major franchises as these men do, and no one else has shown the same willingness to flout the conventional wisdom of his respective sport.
The Eagles held their first training-camp practice Saturday - exactly one month after the NBA held its annual player draft - so it seemed an appropriate time to point out the philosophical line that separates two of the town's teams from the other two. It's a stark divide, and Kelly and Hinkie are the cause of it.
On one side are the Phillies and the Flyers, who have long believed their reluctance to change, their adherence to tradition, is a strength. For a while now, they have been caught up in the habit of "going for it every year" with too little regard for the trends, the innovations, or the economic realities of their respective leagues.
No matter the failing, whether an out-of-hand dismissal of sabermetrics and analytics or an inability to recognize how the NHL's evolution would place a premium on elite defensemen, each franchise has seen every problem as fixable as long as it throws enough money at it. Only now are both organizations coming to understand the limitations of their approaches, and only now are they beginning to course-correct. (The Flyers, under new general manager Ron Hextall, are further along in that process, in part because of Hextall's fondness for hoarding young defensemen, in part because their scalps are already pressed against the salary cap's ceiling.)
On the other side are the Eagles, with Kelly as their head coach, and the 76ers, with Hinkie as their general manager. It's an understatement to suggest that they are going about things a bit differently.
Consider Kelly, hired after the Eagles tried to buy themselves a Super Bowl and instead plummeted to the bottom of the NFC East. He has changed how the Eagles play, how they eat, how they train, how they practice, when they practice, what kinds of players the front office ought to be acquiring and why, what kinds of criteria ought to be used to evaluate players and why - all of it captured in that single stunning decision in March, when the team released its best wide receiver, DeSean Jackson.
These were not tweaks, not minor modifications. These changes have been part, instead, of a rethinking of how a franchise should operate to maximize its opportunities to excel not just for one season but over the long term.
Hinkie shares that goal, though the road he has chosen for the Sixers requires more patience to tread. When he drafted Joel Embiid and Dario Saric - the former injured and unlikely to play this season, the latter locked into a pro contract in Turkey for at least another two years - he reaffirmed that everyone should take him at his word when he says that he and the Sixers' owners will take their time in trying to construct a roster that can sustain success. This is not a man who believes in a quick fix.
"You can see it in Europe a lot" in soccer, Hinkie said in an interview last fall. "A team loses to a bad opponent, and they threaten to fire the coach. And the newspapers rise up and say, 'Enough. We need a change in leadership because we're 4-1.' And they literally fire people like that. Now everything's going to be great, and they win the next three. Then they lose two in a row, and they fire that guy, and they go through it time and time again. You can operate that way, but you can't build anything with any staying power - anything, anything at all.
"Being tired of losing doesn't change the fact that if you start a war against an army you can't beat, you'll lose, tragically. I love that we're all passionate about what we want and how bad we want it now. I am, too. It just doesn't change the realities of what is required."
There are, of course, no guarantees attached to Hinkie's plan, which distinguishes him from his predecessors, whose refusal to bottom out and begin again made certain that the Sixers had absolutely no hope of competing for a championship.
But that's the fun in watching what he and Kelly are doing - that they're daring to be innovative, that no one knows what they'll do next or how this all will turn out.
Someone said to me the other day that no one's tried to win an NBA title in the manner Sam Hinkie is trying to win one. The same can be said of Chip Kelly and the Super Bowl. To that assertion, there's only one appropriate response: Cool.
yea no one has tried to tank in the nba before. and newspapers wonder why no one wants to read them anymore. absurd premise.
Mike Sielski, Inquirer Columnist Posted: Sunday, July 27, 2014, 1:09 AM
There are no two more intriguing sports figures in Philadelphia these days than Chip Kelly and Sam Hinkie. No one else comes close, and the two of them are fascinating for the same reasons.
No one else wields as much influence over any of the city's four major franchises as these men do, and no one else has shown the same willingness to flout the conventional wisdom of his respective sport.
The Eagles held their first training-camp practice Saturday - exactly one month after the NBA held its annual player draft - so it seemed an appropriate time to point out the philosophical line that separates two of the town's teams from the other two. It's a stark divide, and Kelly and Hinkie are the cause of it.
On one side are the Phillies and the Flyers, who have long believed their reluctance to change, their adherence to tradition, is a strength. For a while now, they have been caught up in the habit of "going for it every year" with too little regard for the trends, the innovations, or the economic realities of their respective leagues.
No matter the failing, whether an out-of-hand dismissal of sabermetrics and analytics or an inability to recognize how the NHL's evolution would place a premium on elite defensemen, each franchise has seen every problem as fixable as long as it throws enough money at it. Only now are both organizations coming to understand the limitations of their approaches, and only now are they beginning to course-correct. (The Flyers, under new general manager Ron Hextall, are further along in that process, in part because of Hextall's fondness for hoarding young defensemen, in part because their scalps are already pressed against the salary cap's ceiling.)
On the other side are the Eagles, with Kelly as their head coach, and the 76ers, with Hinkie as their general manager. It's an understatement to suggest that they are going about things a bit differently.
Consider Kelly, hired after the Eagles tried to buy themselves a Super Bowl and instead plummeted to the bottom of the NFC East. He has changed how the Eagles play, how they eat, how they train, how they practice, when they practice, what kinds of players the front office ought to be acquiring and why, what kinds of criteria ought to be used to evaluate players and why - all of it captured in that single stunning decision in March, when the team released its best wide receiver, DeSean Jackson.
These were not tweaks, not minor modifications. These changes have been part, instead, of a rethinking of how a franchise should operate to maximize its opportunities to excel not just for one season but over the long term.
Hinkie shares that goal, though the road he has chosen for the Sixers requires more patience to tread. When he drafted Joel Embiid and Dario Saric - the former injured and unlikely to play this season, the latter locked into a pro contract in Turkey for at least another two years - he reaffirmed that everyone should take him at his word when he says that he and the Sixers' owners will take their time in trying to construct a roster that can sustain success. This is not a man who believes in a quick fix.
"You can see it in Europe a lot" in soccer, Hinkie said in an interview last fall. "A team loses to a bad opponent, and they threaten to fire the coach. And the newspapers rise up and say, 'Enough. We need a change in leadership because we're 4-1.' And they literally fire people like that. Now everything's going to be great, and they win the next three. Then they lose two in a row, and they fire that guy, and they go through it time and time again. You can operate that way, but you can't build anything with any staying power - anything, anything at all.
"Being tired of losing doesn't change the fact that if you start a war against an army you can't beat, you'll lose, tragically. I love that we're all passionate about what we want and how bad we want it now. I am, too. It just doesn't change the realities of what is required."
There are, of course, no guarantees attached to Hinkie's plan, which distinguishes him from his predecessors, whose refusal to bottom out and begin again made certain that the Sixers had absolutely no hope of competing for a championship.
But that's the fun in watching what he and Kelly are doing - that they're daring to be innovative, that no one knows what they'll do next or how this all will turn out.
Someone said to me the other day that no one's tried to win an NBA title in the manner Sam Hinkie is trying to win one. The same can be said of Chip Kelly and the Super Bowl. To that assertion, there's only one appropriate response: Cool.
yea no one has tried to tank in the nba before. and newspapers wonder why no one wants to read them anymore. absurd premise.
no, the premise had to do with taking players who you know can't play for a year or two, two years in a row. can't think of a team who has ever done that. sielski is a solid sportswriter.
gotta like the fact that we have two teams in town who are thinking outside of the box with both of them, seemingly, headed in the right direction.
i agree with what hinkie is doing but he ain't re-inventing the wheel here. teams have been drafting foreigners and stashing them for years.
love chip's 'don't walk on the grass' philosophy . that's my new favorite thing. can't believe someone actually wrote an article based on that. hilarious stuff from the newspapers these days.
i agree with what hinkie is doing but he ain't re-inventing the wheel here. teams have been drafting foreigners and stashing them for years.
love chip's 'don't walk on the grass' philosophy . that's my new favorite thing. can't believe someone actually wrote an article based on that. hilarious stuff from the newspapers these days.
yeah that was awesome. haha. the cool thing about that and some of the other things they're doing is it forces guys to constantly be thinking about things, even small mindless stuff like where to walk and shit. so he's testing their minds at all times. makes sense.
with hinkie, can you name a team whose top pick two years in a row sat out his first season? neither can i. hence the premise there.
i agree with what hinkie is doing but he ain't re-inventing the wheel here. teams have been drafting foreigners and stashing them for years.
love chip's 'don't walk on the grass' philosophy . that's my new favorite thing. can't believe someone actually wrote an article based on that. hilarious stuff from the newspapers these days.
yeah that was awesome. haha. the cool thing about that and some of the other things they're doing is it forces guys to constantly be thinking about things, even small mindless stuff like where to walk and shit. so he's testing their minds at all times. makes sense.
with hinkie, can you name a team whose top pick two years in a row sat out his first season? neither can i. hence the premise there.
are you really this brainwashed about chip kelly that you believe not walking on the grass has any legitimate football benefit?
and not once in said article do they mention drafting 2 years in a row players who won't play so not sure how you get that premise from it. they only mention this years 2 guys. the premise was patience and lots of it for the sixers.
pretty ironic he trashes the phillies and flyers approaches but fails to mention the phils were the last team to win a title and the flyers were the last to appear in a final out of the 4. until either the eagles or sixers approaches actually achieves something great can we stop with the over the top accolades for these guys?
haha. molehill/mountain/pjhawks. jesus, man. what accolades are you talking about? it's an article simply pointing out how differently these two teams are operating verses the other two teams in town. the fact that these two seem to be headed in the right direction while the other two are spinning their wheels further illustrates that contrast.
with kelly--cool your jets dude. that mcclain piece provided a nice insight into how they run things there now. most people who are successful in life are detail oriented and are disciplined about doing things certain ways (maybe you did not know that). so when you're looking at a team that was as dysfunctional as a team can possibly be under andy reid, it's worth noting that every little detail such as where to walk/not walk is drilled into their heads. people probably thought lombardi was crazy for forcing his players to come to meetings and practices 15 minutes early too. but you gotta get 50+ guys to all buy into the same thing. makes sense.
and again with hinkie--name me any team in the history of the nba who drafted their first two players knowing they would not play a minute for them in their first year (and on top of that-- year after doing the same thing with their first pick the previous year)? you can't. neither can i. hence the premise.
good time to be a sixers and birds fan in this town. next few years should be fun.
I don't think the Sixers are going to be exciting for at least 2 and probably 3 or 4 years.
sure. but you're a guy who has admitted to not even watching them since the ai/larry brown days. those of us who've struggled over the last 15 years with them will have fun watching them grow. hell, i enjoyed watching the summer league games. haha
8/28/98- Camden, NJ
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly. PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
this would be awful. i don't see how it can be enacted so quickly though with pending trades and such. 2016, i would be all for it though.
Not just because of the Sixers but teams have made trades with and for protected lottery picks that would be affected.
right. gotta say though, i'm liking adam silver so far, especially if he can get the whole 2 year in college thing pushed through as well (again-obviously not for next year)
Looks like the Love/Wiggins trade has been agreed upon with the Sixers getting some action as the third team. Rumor is Bennett, picks, and salary coming to Philly. Sixers send Thad Young to Minnesota. Beat it Thad!!
after all the lin rumors last month, i'm trying not to get my hopes up with this one, especially since there's a couple more weeks for things to change. bennett was absolute garbage last year but lost weight and looked better in summer league. also read he had his tonsils and adenoids removed to help with his breathing.
young guy, still with upside. definitely would like him over dion waiters (another cav the sixers have been tied to recently).
what a weird summer for wiggins though, huh? all that hype and then your pushed aside for one of the best players ever...only to possibly land in minnesota.
hopefully one of the picks they get will be one of the firsts cleveland inherited (not the cavs pick which will be at back of first round).
after all they hype around the sixers guys in the summer league (mcrae, noel, mcdaniels, etc) and the tremendous draft and maneuvering (getting their first round pick back from orlando), this offseason is shaping up to be a huge success. It's going to be incredible watching this team grow and evolve over the next 3-5 years. Absolutely love it
Three's Company: What The Sixers Could Get Out Of A Kevin Love Trade
By Jake Pavorsky @JakePavorsky on Aug 5 2014, 2:00p +
"If you're not talking draft picks, what you saying to me?" - Sam Hinkie, probably.
The Sixers offseason could be considered stagnant and monotonous, a transaction-less three months from the depths of hell. Every day that goes by without a move being made is one more day Brandon Davies is likely to make this team. We give Davies a lot of crap, maybe undeserved, but if he's on this team come the fall it will be an unforgivable offense.
They've watched salary dumps for the likes of Jeremy Lin and Jarrett Jack pass them by, all attached with ever-so-valuable first round picks, prizes the Sixers have sought out in basically any trade they've tried to make over the past two seasons. There are certainly suitable reasons that Philadelphia has yet to partake in any of those deals, but the window of opportunity to get themselves involved in a big summer deal is closing really quickly.
A Kevin Love blockbuster is seemingly the final potential trade for Sam Hinkie to get involved this summer, and luckily for our sanity, he seems poised to do just that. From Timberwolves reporter Charley Walters:
Cleveland remains the strong bet for Love to join LeBron James. But the Wolves continue to listen to offers from Chicago and Golden State, with Philadelphia expected to be part of a three-team deal.
So what could Philadelphia get out of all this?
Sweet, Sweet Draft Picks
If a team is negotiating a deal with the Sixers, they know what they're in for. They want your draft picks, they'll take your draft picks, your draft picks are gone. Your team just traded a 2016 first-rounder for the rights to a Yugoslavian center who apparently retired four seasons ago. Know this when you're dealing with Sam Hinkie: your future draft classes don't look as good after you're done with him.
If they plan to get in on the Kevin Love action the Sixers are gonna have to probably take on a little added salary. It's not only nothing they can't handle, but for helping to facilitate Love to Cleveland they have a wide selection of firsts to chose from. The Cavaliers own both Miami and Memphis' top selections in 2015, both of which are appealing. Miami's pick, protected 1-10, probably falls somewhere in the early 20's this season, but the Grizzlies selection is the real belle of the ball.
Protected 1-5 and 15-30 in both 2015 and 2016, Memphis retains the pick in 2017 only if it falls in the top 5. That has a genuine chance to be a low lottery pick, though harder to acquire. Minnesota has all their future first round picks in order and is probably gonna sit in the lottery for at least next season. There is no real rush for the pick to be in 2015, as the talent may not be as strong nor as deep as in the previous year's class. But getting a first-round pick regardless of where it comes from should have fans doing cartwheels, as the Sixers continue to make it clear they plan on stacking future assets.
Anthony Bennett
ESPN's Brian Windhorst linked Bennett to Philadelphia for the first time Monday, and T'Wolves reporter Darren Wolfson threw more gas on the fire that evening. After seeing his performance at Vegas Summer League, I can't really complain. He looked healthy and in shape for probably the first time in a long time, and his play showed that.
Bennett ran the floor like a gazelle despite being built like a bull. It was hard not to be impressed. He was knocking down pull-up jump shots. He was slashing to the rim and throwing down hard. Point Bennett became a real thing at one point. Against the Sixers he brought the ball up, shook Nerlens Noel out of his shoes at the perimeter and almost brought the arena down with an earth shattering dunk had he not been fouled. This is the Anthony Bennett the Cleveland Cavaliers drafted first overall, and the Sixers need to get their hands on him if they can. Get the best players you can, worry about fit when you have to cross that bridge.
Other Salary Relief
Frankly, even the worst deals Cleveland and Minnesota have to offer are not as miserable as made out to be. Kevin Martin's remaining three years at $7 million a season is viewed as sort of an albatross, but I can think of worse guys to place next to Michael Carter-Williams. He has a smooth outside stroke, who can attack the rim and get to the line at a decently high rate. Hard to ask for much more, especially when two years down the road you can sell him off as a shooting specialist to a contender seeking an infusion off the bench and collecting a second rounder.
Trading Dion Waiters could clear enough room for Cleveland, albeit unlikely. And despite the character issues, I'd take my chances on the hometown kid for two seasons. He's dropped a ton of weight, and maybe a change of surrounding, including a coach who will sit his ass damn quick for hoisting up awful shots, can do the trick. The Cavaliers also have point guard John Lucas III and power forward Erik Murphy, two guys on non-guaranteed deals who could be shipped to Philly if it helps Cleveland shed enough dough for Love.
What Will The Sixers Give Up?
The low cost of Thaddeus Young. Philadelphia has been attempting to facilitate his requests to be traded to a franchise a little more focused on winning, but have yet to find a deal worth their while. The real struggle has been the return; Philadelphia wants first round picks (surprise!), nobody has wanted to pay a premium for a decent player on a non-team friendly contract. But if Philadelphia can get a first rounder and a young player in Anthony Bennett in exchange for Young because they helped free up cap for Cleveland, they've hit the jackpot.
Philadelphia genuinely seems down to be a key component of this power shifting three-team deal, and the return could make this slow offseason well worth it
if you're the t wolves you make this trade thinking thad will stay with them. but if he was unhappy in a rebuild last year, I would think he would be just as unhappy with minny this year-- though, I guess they are banking on wiggins' huge upside to entice him that they are close to contending....
figures the bennett thing was too good to be true. so the sixers get 2 pieces of garbage and miami's first rounder (protected 1-10) this year....so probably mid to late teens/early 20's. meh. i guess that is about what you'd expect for thad's expiring contract, i guess.
figures the bennett thing was too good to be true. so the sixers get 2 pieces of garbage and miami's first rounder (protected 1-10) this year....so probably mid to late teens/early 20's. meh. i guess that is about what you'd expect for thad's expiring contract, i guess.
Comments
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/07/23/report-sixers-nuggets-celtics-could-become-a-third-team-in-kevin-love-trade-to-cavaliers/
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
Bol Bol. Ha.
http://www.csnphilly.com/blog/700-level/these-mixtapes-manute-bols-son-bol-bol-are-mesmerizing
Kelly, Hinkie bringing much-needed innovation to their teams
Mike Sielski, Inquirer Columnist
Posted: Sunday, July 27, 2014, 1:09 AM
There are no two more intriguing sports figures in Philadelphia these days than Chip Kelly and Sam Hinkie. No one else comes close, and the two of them are fascinating for the same reasons.
No one else wields as much influence over any of the city's four major franchises as these men do, and no one else has shown the same willingness to flout the conventional wisdom of his respective sport.
The Eagles held their first training-camp practice Saturday - exactly one month after the NBA held its annual player draft - so it seemed an appropriate time to point out the philosophical line that separates two of the town's teams from the other two. It's a stark divide, and Kelly and Hinkie are the cause of it.
On one side are the Phillies and the Flyers, who have long believed their reluctance to change, their adherence to tradition, is a strength. For a while now, they have been caught up in the habit of "going for it every year" with too little regard for the trends, the innovations, or the economic realities of their respective leagues.
No matter the failing, whether an out-of-hand dismissal of sabermetrics and analytics or an inability to recognize how the NHL's evolution would place a premium on elite defensemen, each franchise has seen every problem as fixable as long as it throws enough money at it. Only now are both organizations coming to understand the limitations of their approaches, and only now are they beginning to course-correct. (The Flyers, under new general manager Ron Hextall, are further along in that process, in part because of Hextall's fondness for hoarding young defensemen, in part because their scalps are already pressed against the salary cap's ceiling.)
On the other side are the Eagles, with Kelly as their head coach, and the 76ers, with Hinkie as their general manager. It's an understatement to suggest that they are going about things a bit differently.
Consider Kelly, hired after the Eagles tried to buy themselves a Super Bowl and instead plummeted to the bottom of the NFC East. He has changed how the Eagles play, how they eat, how they train, how they practice, when they practice, what kinds of players the front office ought to be acquiring and why, what kinds of criteria ought to be used to evaluate players and why - all of it captured in that single stunning decision in March, when the team released its best wide receiver, DeSean Jackson.
These were not tweaks, not minor modifications. These changes have been part, instead, of a rethinking of how a franchise should operate to maximize its opportunities to excel not just for one season but over the long term.
Hinkie shares that goal, though the road he has chosen for the Sixers requires more patience to tread. When he drafted Joel Embiid and Dario Saric - the former injured and unlikely to play this season, the latter locked into a pro contract in Turkey for at least another two years - he reaffirmed that everyone should take him at his word when he says that he and the Sixers' owners will take their time in trying to construct a roster that can sustain success. This is not a man who believes in a quick fix.
"You can see it in Europe a lot" in soccer, Hinkie said in an interview last fall. "A team loses to a bad opponent, and they threaten to fire the coach. And the newspapers rise up and say, 'Enough. We need a change in leadership because we're 4-1.' And they literally fire people like that. Now everything's going to be great, and they win the next three. Then they lose two in a row, and they fire that guy, and they go through it time and time again. You can operate that way, but you can't build anything with any staying power - anything, anything at all.
"Being tired of losing doesn't change the fact that if you start a war against an army you can't beat, you'll lose, tragically. I love that we're all passionate about what we want and how bad we want it now. I am, too. It just doesn't change the realities of what is required."
There are, of course, no guarantees attached to Hinkie's plan, which distinguishes him from his predecessors, whose refusal to bottom out and begin again made certain that the Sixers had absolutely no hope of competing for a championship.
But that's the fun in watching what he and Kelly are doing - that they're daring to be innovative, that no one knows what they'll do next or how this all will turn out.
Someone said to me the other day that no one's tried to win an NBA title in the manner Sam Hinkie is trying to win one. The same can be said of Chip Kelly and the Super Bowl. To that assertion, there's only one appropriate response: Cool.
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
gotta like the fact that we have two teams in town who are thinking outside of the box with both of them, seemingly, headed in the right direction.
love chip's 'don't walk on the grass' philosophy . that's my new favorite thing. can't believe someone actually wrote an article based on that. hilarious stuff from the newspapers these days.
with hinkie, can you name a team whose top pick two years in a row sat out his first season? neither can i. hence the premise there.
and not once in said article do they mention drafting 2 years in a row players who won't play so not sure how you get that premise from it. they only mention this years 2 guys. the premise was patience and lots of it for the sixers.
pretty ironic he trashes the phillies and flyers approaches but fails to mention the phils were the last team to win a title and the flyers were the last to appear in a final out of the 4. until either the eagles or sixers approaches actually achieves something great can we stop with the over the top accolades for these guys?
with kelly--cool your jets dude. that mcclain piece provided a nice insight into how they run things there now. most people who are successful in life are detail oriented and are disciplined about doing things certain ways (maybe you did not know that). so when you're looking at a team that was as dysfunctional as a team can possibly be under andy reid, it's worth noting that every little detail such as where to walk/not walk is drilled into their heads. people probably thought lombardi was crazy for forcing his players to come to meetings and practices 15 minutes early too. but you gotta get 50+ guys to all buy into the same thing. makes sense.
and again with hinkie--name me any team in the history of the nba who drafted their first two players knowing they would not play a minute for them in their first year (and on top of that-- year after doing the same thing with their first pick the previous year)? you can't. neither can i. hence the premise.
good time to be a sixers and birds fan in this town. next few years should be fun.
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
Tom O.
"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"
-The Writer
I wish Hinkie could run all four philly teams
young guy, still with upside. definitely would like him over dion waiters (another cav the sixers have been tied to recently).
what a weird summer for wiggins though, huh? all that hype and then your pushed aside for one of the best players ever...only to possibly land in minnesota.
hopefully one of the picks they get will be one of the firsts cleveland inherited (not the cavs pick which will be at back of first round).
after all they hype around the sixers guys in the summer league (mcrae, noel, mcdaniels, etc) and the tremendous draft and maneuvering (getting their first round pick back from orlando), this offseason is shaping up to be a huge success. It's going to be incredible watching this team grow and evolve over the next 3-5 years. Absolutely love it
sucks we have to wait till the 23rd for this to happen.
http://www.libertyballers.com/2014/8/5/5969641/sixers-cavaliers-timberwolves-kevin-love-anthony-bennett
Three's Company: What The Sixers Could Get Out Of A Kevin Love Trade
By Jake Pavorsky @JakePavorsky on Aug 5 2014, 2:00p +
"If you're not talking draft picks, what you saying to me?" - Sam Hinkie, probably.
The Sixers offseason could be considered stagnant and monotonous, a transaction-less three months from the depths of hell. Every day that goes by without a move being made is one more day Brandon Davies is likely to make this team. We give Davies a lot of crap, maybe undeserved, but if he's on this team come the fall it will be an unforgivable offense.
They've watched salary dumps for the likes of Jeremy Lin and Jarrett Jack pass them by, all attached with ever-so-valuable first round picks, prizes the Sixers have sought out in basically any trade they've tried to make over the past two seasons. There are certainly suitable reasons that Philadelphia has yet to partake in any of those deals, but the window of opportunity to get themselves involved in a big summer deal is closing really quickly.
A Kevin Love blockbuster is seemingly the final potential trade for Sam Hinkie to get involved this summer, and luckily for our sanity, he seems poised to do just that. From Timberwolves reporter Charley Walters:
Cleveland remains the strong bet for Love to join LeBron James. But the Wolves continue to listen to offers from Chicago and Golden State, with Philadelphia expected to be part of a three-team deal.
So what could Philadelphia get out of all this?
Sweet, Sweet Draft Picks
If a team is negotiating a deal with the Sixers, they know what they're in for. They want your draft picks, they'll take your draft picks, your draft picks are gone. Your team just traded a 2016 first-rounder for the rights to a Yugoslavian center who apparently retired four seasons ago. Know this when you're dealing with Sam Hinkie: your future draft classes don't look as good after you're done with him.
If they plan to get in on the Kevin Love action the Sixers are gonna have to probably take on a little added salary. It's not only nothing they can't handle, but for helping to facilitate Love to Cleveland they have a wide selection of firsts to chose from. The Cavaliers own both Miami and Memphis' top selections in 2015, both of which are appealing. Miami's pick, protected 1-10, probably falls somewhere in the early 20's this season, but the Grizzlies selection is the real belle of the ball.
Protected 1-5 and 15-30 in both 2015 and 2016, Memphis retains the pick in 2017 only if it falls in the top 5. That has a genuine chance to be a low lottery pick, though harder to acquire. Minnesota has all their future first round picks in order and is probably gonna sit in the lottery for at least next season. There is no real rush for the pick to be in 2015, as the talent may not be as strong nor as deep as in the previous year's class. But getting a first-round pick regardless of where it comes from should have fans doing cartwheels, as the Sixers continue to make it clear they plan on stacking future assets.
Anthony Bennett
ESPN's Brian Windhorst linked Bennett to Philadelphia for the first time Monday, and T'Wolves reporter Darren Wolfson threw more gas on the fire that evening. After seeing his performance at Vegas Summer League, I can't really complain. He looked healthy and in shape for probably the first time in a long time, and his play showed that.
Bennett ran the floor like a gazelle despite being built like a bull. It was hard not to be impressed. He was knocking down pull-up jump shots. He was slashing to the rim and throwing down hard. Point Bennett became a real thing at one point. Against the Sixers he brought the ball up, shook Nerlens Noel out of his shoes at the perimeter and almost brought the arena down with an earth shattering dunk had he not been fouled. This is the Anthony Bennett the Cleveland Cavaliers drafted first overall, and the Sixers need to get their hands on him if they can. Get the best players you can, worry about fit when you have to cross that bridge.
Other Salary Relief
Frankly, even the worst deals Cleveland and Minnesota have to offer are not as miserable as made out to be. Kevin Martin's remaining three years at $7 million a season is viewed as sort of an albatross, but I can think of worse guys to place next to Michael Carter-Williams. He has a smooth outside stroke, who can attack the rim and get to the line at a decently high rate. Hard to ask for much more, especially when two years down the road you can sell him off as a shooting specialist to a contender seeking an infusion off the bench and collecting a second rounder.
Trading Dion Waiters could clear enough room for Cleveland, albeit unlikely. And despite the character issues, I'd take my chances on the hometown kid for two seasons. He's dropped a ton of weight, and maybe a change of surrounding, including a coach who will sit his ass damn quick for hoisting up awful shots, can do the trick. The Cavaliers also have point guard John Lucas III and power forward Erik Murphy, two guys on non-guaranteed deals who could be shipped to Philly if it helps Cleveland shed enough dough for Love.
What Will The Sixers Give Up?
The low cost of Thaddeus Young. Philadelphia has been attempting to facilitate his requests to be traded to a franchise a little more focused on winning, but have yet to find a deal worth their while. The real struggle has been the return; Philadelphia wants first round picks (surprise!), nobody has wanted to pay a premium for a decent player on a non-team friendly contract. But if Philadelphia can get a first rounder and a young player in Anthony Bennett in exchange for Young because they helped free up cap for Cleveland, they've hit the jackpot.
Philadelphia genuinely seems down to be a key component of this power shifting three-team deal, and the return could make this slow offseason well worth it
It's so nice to have a real GM running the show for a change!!
http://www.csnphilly.com/blog/700-level/wait-joel-embiid-said-what-about-dating-scene-kansas
hence me not getting my hopes up over this one. ha
http://www.libertyballers.com/2014/8/8/5982619/report-thaddeus-young-still-going-to-minnesota-anthony-bennett
if you're the t wolves you make this trade thinking thad will stay with them. but if he was unhappy in a rebuild last year, I would think he would be just as unhappy with minny this year-- though, I guess they are banking on wiggins' huge upside to entice him that they are close to contending....
hmmm
twolves should be a fun, young bunch to watch
http://www.libertyballers.com/2014/8/22/6055729/done-deal-thaddeus-young-traded-to-minnesota
ONWARD WITH THE TANK!