The roller coaster continues. Sam Amick of SI tells us to add Sam Hinkie to the growing list of candidates for the Sixers General Manager position.
A leader in the league's analytics movement who has been the Rockets' second-in-command behind general manager Daryl Morey for the past five years, Hinkie joins a field of candidates that includes Boston assistant general manager Mike Zarren, former New Orleans general manager Jeff Bower, former Portland assistant general manager and ESPN analyst Tom Penn. Sixers incumbent Rod Thorn has a year remaining on his contract, but his deal reportedly includes a provision through which he will become a part-time consultant with the team for the following five years as part of a transition that has already has begun.
There seems to be a pattern here. Of the four candidates, three of them have strong analytical backgrounds, with heavy involvement in advanced stats. I've been dying for the Sixers to hire a GM of this nature for a few years now so, I'd be relatively pleased with any of the three analytical candidates. Jeff Bower – not so much.
Here are two interesting pieces on Hinkie – one from NBA.com and the other from TrueHoop.