This was laid out in a previous post, but let’s dig a little deeper here.
In 2014, Sam Hinkie’s way of taking on salary dumps and making the Sixers available as the third team in three-team deals was the “protected second round pick.” And boy was it protected. The teams “receiving” the pick in these deals had no illusions that they’d actually get it (and if they did, it was just a plus). They just needed to dump some salary or a player in a deal with a trade exemption and the Sixers needed to toss something out there in return. So let’s look at what Sam Hinkie did with a protected 2014 second round pick. [Ed. Note: All of these deals MIGHT be for the same pick. They probably are. That is, however, unconfirmed at this point.]:
Also on February 20th, 2014, the Sixers traded Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen to the Pacers for Danny Granger and the 2015 second round pick they’d use to select Luka Mitrovic.
After doing all of that dealing, the Sixers’ 2014 second round pick — essentially protected from pick #40 to pick #60 — didn’t convey, so they got to keep it. Hinkie used that pick to select K.J. McDaniels. Down the line, he traded McDaniels for Isaiah Canaan and a 2015 second round pick, which he used to select Richaun Holmes. The Sixers still have Aldemir and Wroten from the earlier deals, and yesterday, Hinkie packaged the rights to Mitrovic and the rights to Guaditis (from the Maynor trade) for Nik Stauskas, Carl Landry, Jason Thompson, a future first round pick, and the right to swap two other first round picks. The long road that began almost two years ago with the Aldemir deal is still being paved, but it doesn’t make it any less amazing.