Don’t throw good money after bad.
It is good advice in Las Vegas — you’re not going to win that money back on one big roulette bet — and it’s good advice for NBA general managers. Who do their fair share of gambling. Like pushing all your chips in on Andrew Bynum last summer.
New Sixers GM Sam Hinkie has learned his lessons and said at his inaugural press conference on Tuesday (streamed on CSNPhilly.com) that re-signing Andrew Bynum is not a top priority.
“I think of Andrew like the thousands of other young men that are walking around the world that are unrestricted free agents, that have potential to play NBA basketball, and he is one of those,” Hinkie said.
He added the Sixers have the advantage of an exclusive negotiating period and should have a huge informational advantage with regards to Bynum. Hinkie said he had to get up to speed on that information then choose a path.
Throughout the presser Hinkie talked about process, about being careful and methodical, about gathering information then getting fully behind the best decision you can make. That includes the ongoing coaching search. He said the key is to pick the right guy, someone he shares a philosophy with, and it matters to take some time and do it right.
As for players not named Bynum, Hinkie Jrue Holiday, Thaddeus Young and Evan Turner are “quite interesting.” He said he needs to do more evaluation to see if they are franchise cornerstones.
Make no mistake, Hinkie wants a superstar in Philly. You could see that in Houston where Hinkie worked up until a week ago with Daryl Morey — they went after Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard and eventually landed James Harden. You have to have one of the games elite players to win big in this league (look at the teams that have won titles the past 30 years).
“Superstar players matter in this league,” Hinkie said.
Not that it’s easy.
“This is a hard league, everybody is trying to get the same thing,” Hinkie said. “There are no silver bullets, where you do one thing and it makes everything easy overnight.”
It’s not going to happen overnight, Sixers fans. But you have a whip-smart guy at the head of the organization now in Philly, a guy with a philosophy he wants to build from, and that is as good a cornerstone as you can get.