Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie hasn't been at the helm for long, but league executives reportedly don't trust him. Following the Andrei Kirilenko trade fallout, which resulted in Hinkie placing him on the suspension list, a report from Bob Ford of the Philadelphia Inquirer quotes sources as saying some in the league view Hinkie as untrustworthy.
The Brooklyn Nets traded Kirilenko to Philadelphia on Dec. 11. Kirilenko failed to report, leading to Philadelphia suspending him without pay. There's more to the story though, according to Ford.
"According to two sources with inside knowledge of the negotiations, the Sixers had agreed to release veteran forward Andrei Kirilenko after the trade was consummated, but did not follow through on that handshake deal," Ford wrote Friday. "Kirilenko, who played only seven games with the Nets this season, remains on the Sixers roster but has refused to join the team despite a request to do so."
Ford quoted two different sources with two different perspectives of how the trade went down.
"We made the trade to get the draft pick and in hopes [Kirilenko] might play for us," a 76ers source told Ford. "[Releasing him] was not a condition of the trade, but I have no idea what was said to him on the other end."
Ford's other source claimed there was an agreement between Brooklyn and Philadelphia that Kirilenko, reportedly a favorite of Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov, would be released upon the completion of the trade so he could be a free agent.
When asked if Hinkie could have misinterpreted or misunderstood the alleged agreement, the source said no.
"I think he started thinking he can just hold onto him and use him at the trade deadline in a package to get something," the source added.
Regardless of which version of the story is correct, the Dec. 11 trade could have negative consequences for Hinkie.
"General managers like to call each other and talk, but nobody wants to talk to Sam Hinkie," another source told Ford. "Nobody trusts this guy."
