Sam Hinkie probably hadn’t even heard of Markelle Fultz when he came to Philadelphia.
He probably still didn’t know who he was when he made the infamous “pick swap” trade with the Sacramento Kings, but this was always the end game for Hinkie’s “process.”
But the end game was always acquiring as many assets as possible, while obtaining young, controllable players through the draft that could develop into stars.
Now, a little over a year after Hinkie resigned as GM of the Sixers, the team now seems set up perfectly for the future. The Sixers appear to have a core of young players to build around, including Fultz, Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Dario Saric and Robert Covington that has the potential to become an elite NBA team in the coming years.