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:
Why Troy Weaver is imitating Hinkie’s ‘The Process’
When Sam Hinkie took over as general manager of the 76ers in 2013, he took over a team in ruins due to a disastrous trade for center Andrew Bynum of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Weaver was put in charge of a Pistons team in June, 2020 that was coming off of a 20-46 season, and had just one draft pick to try and start a rebuilding process.
So it was not like Weaver or Hinkie were taking over the 1990 Pistons. Both teams were not good and seemed to have no path to future success.
Hinkie began The Process on draft night by trading his best player, all-star guard Jrue Holiday, for a package that included the No. 6 pick, where they took Nerlens Noel.
Weaver also was busy in his first NBA Draft. By the end of the night, Detroit had made four draft picks, even though a few hours earlier they only had one. Weaver got all the additional selections without giving up their own pick in the first round, No. 7, where they picked guard Killian Hayes.
To gather the additional draft picks, Weaver used a tactic that Hinkie perfected. Taking on other team’s toxic contracts they wanted to get out of, in return for draft choices was a 76er special.
At one point, Hinkie had stockpiled 25 additional second-round draft picks for the Sixers.
Weaver has not shown to be quite as fond of second-round picks as Hinkie. He included four in a trade for the No. 19 pick in the draft (where they took Saddiq Bey).
He did do, just like Hinkie, trade off his top asset. Luke Kennard was part of the deal that resulted in Bey.
Both Hinkie and Weaver have the support of upper management for their complete changeover of the roster.
Ironically, current Pistons senior advisor Ed Stefanski had held Hinkie’s position running the 76ers only two years before his arrival.
While Troy Weaver may not be trying to emulate Hinkie’s time in Philadelphia, he certainly is taking a few pages from The Process playbook.
Why Troy Weaver is not the new Sam Hinkie
A week before the draft, Detroit Pistons general manager Troy Weaver Jr. held a press availability. He was asked directly if the team would tank, so it would receive a high draft pick, in what is supposed to be a talented 2021 class.
He replied: “The day I am not trying to be competitive, I’ll quit.”
When he was named the general manager back in June, Weaver had described his job as ‘retooling’, not a rebuild.
Hinkie never said what he called what he was doing. Of course, Hinkie never said much of anything.. His motto was ‘Never let them know what you’re thinking’.
The Sixers under Hinkie were the one team Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN could not get a scoop out of. Nothing got out on what the Sixers were doing.
Unless it was absolutely necessary, Hinkie never addressed the press on the record. His secretness was legendary. Agents and fellow GMs would complain they could not get in contact with him.
Weaver, while not Mr. Media, has made himself available to answer questions when appropriate.
Hinkie inherited a slightly better team than Weaver. Despite banking on Bynum (who hurt his knee bowling) to lead them, the Sixers under coach Doug Collins went 34-48.
Hinkie proceeded to strip the team of its best players for assets. He traded its best player, Thaddeus Young, before the start of the season.
Waiting until the trade deadline to maximize his assets, Hinkie sent out the rest of the remaining core from the previous season, centers Spencer Hawes (whose second-round pick from Cleveland, in return, allowed them to draft Jerami Grant), forward Lavoy Allen and guard Evan Turner.
Unless they were throw-ins for a trade , Hinkie never had a standout veteran again on one of his rosters. He looked for ‘diamonds in the rough’. Sometimes he found them (Robert Covington, T.J. McConnell) but most were misfires.
But they were all young, cheap and gave him lots of cap space and roster flexibility to pile up even more assets to use for a bright future (which he would never give a date for).
Weaver has not been averse to paying for what might be a future core player. He snagged Jerami Grant on a $60 million three-year contract. He also signed a veteran guard in Wayne Ellington for a second tour with the Pistons.
Hinkie basically never signed anyone to a big money deal. He also never would have gone out and signed a 33-year-old free agent like Ellington. He would have much rather given that roster spot to a G-League player like Christian Wood and see if he developed (Hinkie cut Wood twice).
So, is Troy Weaver going to make the Detroit Pistons a ‘Process-Midwest Division’?
No.
Weaver is doing some similar things that Hinkie also did with the Sixers, but they are basic guidelines for any GM trying to build up a virtually barren roster.
The Pistons spent some money on bringing in veterans. They would not be coming to a team intent on losing. They have also, so far retained its veteran team stalwarts, Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose.
These players would not want to be on a team looking to lose as much as Hinkie’s 76ers. But they are fine with Weaver’s Pistons.