Sam Hinkie: 'It Was A Good Night For Us'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Sixers finished the 2013-14 regular with second worst record in the NBA, giving them the second best chances at the first-overall pick in the 2014-15 draft, a 19.9% chance. However, to the fans dismay, the Sixers did not end up with the first or second overall selections on Tuesday night, but rather the third overall pick. They also acquired New Orleans' 10th overall pick, giving the Sixers two top-ten picks in a deep 2014 draft.
"It was a good night for us," Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie told reporters after the lottery. "I think there is a lot to be hopeful for, to have two top-ten picks in a draft like this is something a lot of teams would give a lot for."
Hinkie explained that the Sixers would have been comfortable with any top-five pick.
"What you do, is you say, can you live with these scenarios? I can get really comfortable one through five that we can find players that can help us in all those spots," Hinkie said.
Hinkie went on to explain that the Sixers, who play in a big market with young talent and a passionate coaching staff, is an attractive franchise from these incoming players.
"Most of the top players in this draft find Philadelphia a really attractive place," Hinkie said on Tuesday night. "Philadelphia is a place, where with our coaching staff and with our roster, you could come and play and get better."
Last year, in Hinkie's first draft as Sixers general manager, he dealt Jrue Holiday shaking up the entire make-up of the team and beginning the rebuild process. The Sixers not only have two top-ten picks in the 2014 draft, but also have five second-round picks. Hinkie, who will remain quiet, says you can expect some draft-day activity again.
"We're likely to be active all around the draft, that's not unusual for us," Hinkie told reporters. "So I think it's pretty careful, you have to be pretty careful that people don't know what it is you're going to do. Now we're back to my stone face because this is the time of year where there is sort of a lot of, there's sort of a lot of information to be gained and a lot to be lost by the more you say."
