The Philadelphia 76ers have suspended recently-acquired Andrei Kirilenko without pay because he’s yet to report to the team, reports Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.
The 76ers may have reneged on an agreement to release Andrei Kirilenko
A report suggests the 76ers agreed to release Andrei Kirilenko upon acquiring him in a trade, then refused to do so once they got him. Philadelphia has suspended Kirilenko for not showing up.
Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
The news comes after a Philadelphia Inquirer report suggested the team went back on a verbal agreement to release Kirilenko following December’s trade from Brooklyn. The 76ers instead are trying to secure a future asset in a subsequent trade for Kirilenko, according to the Inquirer’s Bob Ford.
Brooklyn believes it made the deal with the understanding the 76ers would honor Kirilenko's request to waive the veteran so he could join a contender and deal with a family medical issue that's kept him in New York. Kirilenko's wife is going through a difficult pregnancy and he wants to stay with her, according to Ford.
According to two sources, the Nets told the Sixers that Kirilenko would not report and wished to become a free agent. Brooklyn had other trade options that would have worked out just as well or better if Kirilenko had been willing to play. Those sources insist the Sixers agreed to release Kirilenko but did not.
“That’s 100 percent accurate,” one source said. “[The Nets] clearly believed there was a handshake deal.”
A 76ers source denied the report, telling Ford they had no idea letting him go was a “condition” for the trade. They told the league of their intentions to suspend Kirilenko, per Wojnarowski.
The Kirilenko situation is causing 76ers GM Sam Hinkie to develop an untrustworthy reputation around the NBA, according to the Inquirer reporter. League sources told Ford that teams have become wary of dealing with the Sixers and Hinkie.
“General managers like to call each other and talk, but nobody wants to talk to Sam Hinkie,” a league source told Ford. “Nobody trusts this guy.”
There are several around the league who believe this kind of behavior isn’t an aberration with Hinkie. The 76ers’ general manager has left no stone unturned in trying to add assets to rebuild his team, but his style may be burning NBA bridges along the way.
“He might have an IQ of 150, but [Hinkie] doesn’t seem to realize you have to deal with these people over and over,” one league source told Ford.
Drawing scrutiny from his peers is nothing new for Hinkie, who’s held his current position since May 2013. The Sixers are rebuilding more obviously than the rest of the league and people who challenge conventional wisdom are not usually welcomed with open arms. It will be years before Hinkie’s plan can be judged.
But the NBA world is a tight-knit one where people talk. If Hinkie is developing an untrustworthy reputation, it could make rebuilding more difficult.
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