Moneyball 2: The Sam Hinkie Story
A Hypothetical Sequel to Moneyball– Starring Sam Hinkie
Moneyball remains one of the greatest sports movies of all time, and one of the most underrated movies ever, with amazing performances by Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. The movie is about the Oakland A’s GM, Billy Beane, who attempts to enable his small market team to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox by implementing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players.
At first, Billy Bean’s plan was wildly unpopular. He lost trust from his scouts, manager and the player personnel team, and became a laughing stock around the league. When his vision came to life and the A’s ended up winning 20 consecutive games, Beane received none of the credit for his blood, sweat, and tears. While I was watching this movie I could only think of one person who Billy Beane reminded me of: Our very own Sam Hinkie. As I watch teams like the Knicks and Cavs tank for multiple straight seasons, I can only think about how Hinkie was forced out of the league when he did the same thing with the Sixers. Just like Billy Beane, Hinkie reinvented the way teams can go after superstars and in 2020, the ability to do so is more available to teams now than ever. This article will develop a hypothetical plot and cast to a Moneyball sequel about Sam Hinkie.
Act 1:
Hinkie took advantage of a weak Eastern Conference by making the playoffs 5 times despite only being above .500 twice. Tired of being a mediocre team with no championship hopes, Hinkie kickstarted the Process by trading Jrue Holiday to New Orleans for two first round picks. In that draft, he selected Nerlens Noel and Michael Carter Williams with his own pick. Brett Brown was hired for the 2013-14 season where the Sixers finished 19-63.
Act 2:
This is when we get to see Hinkie locked in his office making all kinds of deals. This part of Moneyball was super fun getting to watch Pitt and Hill make trade after trade after trade. It would be awesome to see Hinkie on the phones attempting to acquire as many picks as possible. Hinkie moved Carter-Williams for a lottery pick. From the Holiday trade, he got a future first-round pick that resulted in the beloved Dario Saric. Another first round pick was swapped with the Kings, and coupled with another pick to acquire Fultz. Hinkie nailed the 2014 draft by snagging Joel Embiid, who eventually became the corner stone of the process. He also flipped Elfrid Payton for the rights to Saric. In 2015, the Sixers drafted Okafor in a draft that had Porzingis, Myles Turner, and Devin Booker.
Act 3:
The 2015-16 season the Sixers lost an abysmal 72 games including a 17-game losing streak. They ranked 28th in attendance and Hinkie-built teams went 47-199 over three seasons. Hinkie managed to engineer 27 trades that resulted in five lottery picks. The NBA constantly told the Sixers to “simmer down” their losing efforts. Sixers owner Josh Harris originally gave Hinkie the green light for his Process experiment. He later caved by giving into pressure by the NBA and hired former Suns GM Jerry Colangelo. Hinkie resigned four months later submitting a 13-page letter of resignation. Jerry Colangelo passed down the job to his son, Bryan, and Hinkie exited the GM position leaving the Sixers with Embiid, T.J. Mcconnell, Robert Covington, and a chance to snag Ben Simmons in the future draft.
Conclusion:
Owners and GMs around the league had different opinions about Hinkie, ranging from “What he did took balls,” to “They didn’t have to be that bad.” The 76ers fans not only put up with the perpetual losing, they actually fully supported it. Any statement saying that tanking would permanently destroy the 76ers attendance was complete nonsense. This season the Sixers were first in average home attendance, which proves that the fans always understood what Hinkie’s vision was about.
Hinkie was in no way a perfect GM. His relationship with players were questionable and he terribly missed on many picks. Even the best GMs miss the mark on draft picks. Even the worst GMs get lucky sometimes. But the point of Hinkie’s vision was to be in position to have as many chances to draft superstars. With the Sixers currently sitting on two potential superstars in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, plus a championship-contending roster, it’s safe to say that Hinkie laid out the blueprint for a successful future. Now that we are seeing how teams like the Knicks, Bulls, and Hawks.. etc.are operating, we can assume that Hinkie changed the way that GM’s approach the game of basketball.
Cast:
Sam Hinkie- Edward Norton
Brett Brown- Sean Bean
Bryan Colangelo- Ben Affleck
T.J. Mcconnell- Lucas Hedges
Joel Embiid- Joel Embiid
Bucher, Ric. “There Will Never Be Another Process, or a GM Job for Sam Hinkie.” Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 25 Feb. 2018, bleacherreport.com/articles/2759830-there-will-never-be-another-process-or-a-gm-job-for-sam-hinkie.
