UPDATE: Sixers coach Brett Brown denied the Sports Illustrated portrayal of Joel Embiid. MORE TO COME...
No matter how much you "trust the process" and believe in what general manager Sam Hinkie is doing with the Sixers, your faith will likely shaken by Friday's story from Sports Illustrated's Brian Geltzeiler.
According to the report, Hinkie's "process" is being undermined, by two people. The first is the GM himself and the second is injured big man Joel Embiid.
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Although Hinkie reportedly still has the backing of majority owner Josh Harris, there is “internal friction … over Hinkie-led decisions” below the ownership level — specifically over the decision to trade point guard Michael Carter-Williams. According to the report, Hinkie felt the comfortable trading Carter-Williams, who was drafted in Hinkie’s first year, a year after he won Rookie of the Year because he was a below average shooter.
That move reportedly angered coach Brett Brown and CEO Scott O’Neil, both of whom were caught off guard by the move, for different reasons. For Brown, it meant his roster was getting worse. As for O’Neil, it eliminated the organization’s plan to market the team around Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel. However, as Geltzeiler points out, that goes against the team’s philosophy of drafting athletic wings in the hopes their shooting can be improved. It’s also an indictment of Hinkie’s talent evaluation in its own right — after all, the GM drafted the Syracuse guard 11th overall in the 2013 draft. If Hinkie didn’t plan on sticking with MCW long enough to give his shooting a realistic chance to improve, why draft him in the first place? It’s not like the rest of the roster was set; they could have used that pick at any position.
To be fair, Carter-WIlliams value wasn’t likely going to get much higher, so if he was set on moving on from MCW, waiting for his shot to develop would have likely meant getting a lesser return.
Perhaps the most intriguing — or upsetting, if you’re a Sixers fan — concerns center Joel Embiid, the team’s third-overall pick in the 2014 draft. As Geltzeiler lays it out, things are’t going well with the former Kansas star. And the fact that he hasn’t played yet — and is likely out the entire 2015-16 season — is just the tip of what could be a massive iceberg closing in on the Sixers organization.
As reported last season, Embiid had displayed a pattern of insubordination toward the training staff regarding his rehab. That eventually led to Brown sending him home from a West Coast road trip. According to Friday’s report, Brown’s decision came after Embiid physically threatened the strength coach during that trip.
Here’s more from Geltzeiler:
“Embiid’s lax approach to his rehab and the circumstances surrounding the second foot surgery he needed this past summer — which appears like it will cost him the entire 2015–16 season — has caused the organization much anxiety. The simple task of getting Embiid to consistently wear his walking boot was a challenge for the franchise, and multiple sources suggested that some people in Philadelphia’s front office wonder whether a second surgery would have been necessary if Embiid had worn the boot as much as he was told to.” [si.com]
Hang on Sixers fans, because it’s about to get worse.
Embiid was originally supposed to have that second surgery earlier in the summer. Owner Josh Harris reportedly gave Brown and Hinkie specific instructions not to let Embiid travel with the team to Las Vegas for summer league; instead, he wanted the center to undergo the navicular bone surgery. Neither Brown nor Hinkie made sure their orders were carried out, however, and Embiid was soon in Vegas with the team.
And then…this.
“Embiid was determined to go to Vegas to party for the balance of the 10 days of summer league. While Embiid was in Vegas, he was mandated to wear the walking boot in advance of the second surgery, but Embiid not only refused to wear the boot, but he carried himself as if nothing was wrong with the foot, shooting jumpers and even occasionally dunking. These actions have given rise to the theory that Embiid actually re-broke his foot, rather than the initial injury not healing properly. It also led to Embiid having the surgery a month later than the club originally had hoped.” [si.com]
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Apparently the 21-year-old also eats like a 21-year-old. The team was reportedly so concerned with his diet that they began stocking his refrigerator with healthy food. But when they would return a week later, all the healthy food was still unopened in the fridge and the fresh fruit and vegetables were in the trash.
So what did he eat, you ask? According to Geltzeiler’s sources, the team asked for a copy of Embiid’s room service bill and soon got their answer. On most days, he was ordering junk food and pitchers — yes, pitchers — of Shirley Temples. He would also chow down on chicken fingers and hot dogs during and after games.
It’s a fairly damning report, one that Sixers fans must have a hard time stomaching, especially with the start of the season just two weeks away.
Oh, and one last thing — because there already wasn’t enough bad news in this story — and it has to do with Dario Saric.
A lottery pick in 2014, the skilled European forward has yet to play for the Sixers. And he likely won’t be anytime soon if his father has his way.
“According to a source,” writes Geltzeiler, “Saric’s father, who acts as a de facto representative for his son, doesn’t want the Sixers close to Saric. When Hinkie traveled to Turkey to meet with Saric in the summer of 2014, he was given very little face time with him, at the father’s direction.”
You can check out the full story over at si.com.
Follow Matt on Twitter: @matt_mullin