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Is Detroit Pistons GM Troy Weaver the new Sam Hinkie?

By Stuart London

DETROIT, MI - JANUARY 25: Derrick Rose #25 of the Detroit Pistons handles the ball against Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets on January 25, 2020 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - JANUARY 25: Derrick Rose #25 of the Detroit Pistons handles the ball against Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets on January 25, 2020 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Troy Weaver’s quick teardown of the Detroit Pistons roster has people wondering if he is trying to emulate former Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie. Is the new Pistons’ GM beginning his own ‘Process’?

The Detroit Pistons would not be the first team, nor the last, to tank a season. If they choose to do so.

That NBA teams ‘tank’, a strategy to lose on purpose, is not new. Gregg Popovich, lauded as one of the great coaches in NBA history, started his career with the San Antonio Spurs going 17-47 in his first season.

Due to that ‘unfortunate’ start, the Spurs got Tim Duncan in the ensuing draft. Popovich never had a bad record again.

Many teams start playing their bench once they know they will not make the playoffs. Teams usually call it ‘giving the kids experience’ or ‘We need to see what we have’ when asked about why the top players are no longer seeing the court.

And teams may be actually truthful when they say the above. It could be part of the reason. But their main purpose is to have a bad record so they will get a high draft pick. That could get them a star player who could help the team win, and save the general manager’s job.

A tank usually lasts only a few months or, at the most, a season. Acquiring a torrent of bad players and having losses pile up does not make fans, sponsors or the media very happy.

Who wants to go to a game where your team is looking to lose? A win is a bad thing, throwing a monkey wrench in the team’s ultimate plan.

But when Sam Hinkie became general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers in 2013, he instituted the ultimate tank. It ended up being called (not by him) ‘The Process’

For almost three seasons (until he resigned in a 12-page letter), Hinkie made sure the Sixers were not winning many games with rosters filled with young, inexperienced players.

At the end of the third year of ‘The Process’, the 76ers were so bad they almost tied their 1972-73 team for worst record in NBA history. They did not make the history books, as they beat the Pistons for their 10th, and last, victory of the 2015-2016 season.

After three seasons under Hinkie, the Sixers went 10-72 in the last season he had roster control.

Their record would have been even worse but Hinkie was forced to trade for guard Ish Smith by new president Jerry Colangelo mid-way through the season. At one point, the 76ers were 1-31.

The Detroit Pistons have a new general manager of their own in Troy Weaver Jr. Like Hinkie, he had been an assistant GM with a franchise known for being well-run (Hinkie had been in Houston, Weaver from Oklahoma City).

Weaver put a torch to the Pistons roster as soon as legally allowed. Following a dizzying week of wheeling and dealing by Weaver, Detroit only has four players who had been on the team last year.

The quick teardown of the Pistons had led people to compare Weaver’s actions to Hinkie’s during The Process.

There are definitely similarities – and major differences – between Weaver and Hinkie’s reign of their respective teams.

Here is a closer look:

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