NBA Rumors: Philadelphia 76ers Replacing Sam Hinkie With Bryan Colangelo

NBA rumors are swirling around Sam Hinkie. The beleaguered executive has long been ridiculed for the fashion in which he tried to rebuild the Philadelphia 76ers, who are the laughingstock in professional sports. When the organization brought in the highly regarded Jerry Colangelo to become the chairman of basketball operations, the writing was on the wall for Hinkie. He resigned on Wednesday. According to Sports Illustrated, Hinkie might be replaced by Bryan Colangelo, son of Jerry.

Bryan Colangelo isn’t new to the NBA. He was the president and general manager of the Toronto Raptors. In 2007, Colangelo did well enough that he was voted the best executive in the National Basketball Association. The Raptors won the Atlantic Division a season after winning just 27 games. Much of that was due to the work of Colangelo, who only had star forward Chris Bosh and a handful of role players on the roster.

If Bryan Colangelo ends up officially joining the Philadelphia 76ers, he won’t have a bona fide franchise player like Chris Bosh to lean on. The roster might have a couple of guys who can someday be as good as Bosh, but right now, they are just projects. The rest of them are journeymen type of players who have new NBA homes every season. Colangelo would have his hands full in trying to turn things around for the Sixers.

The first task for Bryan Colangelo is to change the losing environment of the Philadelphia 76ers. The franchise has lost 195 games over the past three seasons. That leads to some bad habits in the locker room and on the court. NBA players can sometimes start accepting losses when they feel that victories are impossible to obtain. Much of the Sixers roster are younger players who can be very impressionable. They might not know anything but losing since entering the National Basketball Association.

Three of the biggest assets that the Philadelphia 76ers have are redundant players. Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid, and Jahlil Okafor are all suited for the center position. With the NBA veering towards smaller lineups over the past couple of seasons, the Sixers really only need one of those guys around. Bryan Colangelo is going to be tasked with figuring out which of them will be the franchise player for the 76ers.

Originally, that job belonged to Sam Hinkie. His resignation today came as a surprise to some, even though the move was expected when Jerry Colangelo joined the team. Reports have surfaced that Bryan Colangelo was deep in negotiations with the Philadelphia 76ers to join the front office. Rather than working together with Bryan and Jerry, Hinkie decided that it would be best if he continued his NBA career elsewhere.

In his 13-page resignation letter, Sam Hinkie hinted that the reason why he is leaving the Philadelphia 76ers is because he doesn’t feel that he will have the appropriate power to help rebuild the team. Hinkie insinuated that Jerry Colangelo and Bryan Colangelo are essentially going to be running the team, so he would just be a lead executive by name only. There’s not a lot to be gained for Hinkie by being in that situation because if the team does turn things around, then he will not get much of the credit.

It is probably for the best that Sam Hinkie is no longer associated with the Philadelphia 76ers. He will forever be blamed for the franchise not being able to turn things around. It is better for Hinkie to start anew with another NBA team, where he can begin to rebuild his reputation in hopes of ever becoming a lead executive again.