Bring Sam Hinkie back to the Sixers

The Philadelphia 76ers still have not fired Bryan Colangelo, though the team did bring in a law firm, quite possibly to make sure they could fire Colangelo for cause amid the burner scandal.

But it is inevitable. Colangelo cannot go into the NBA Draft as the Sixers’ general manager — not without explicit buy-off from Brett Brown, Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Dunking Ben Franklin, and probably Meek Mill. Everyone’s got to be on board, and something tells me no one is going to be on board.

When it happens, the Sixers really ought to bring back Sam Hinkie to finish the job. I write this not as an unabashed Hinkie fan or a partisan Hinkie hater. I have both complimented and lamented him over the years, writing that his plan was smart, effective, and suicidal. He did his job so well that his bosses felt — and acted upon — outside pressure to push him aside.

As such, he really ought to finish the job, for better or worse. If you’re a Hinkie skeptic, you should welcome the opportunity to watch him strike out on converting hope and promise to real, sustained success. If you’re a Hinkie booster, you would of course embrace the next phase of his original plan, albeit taken up after a two-year sabbatical.

Embiid is clearly still enchanted by Hinkie, as is much of the vocal fan base. It would wash the nasty taste of the burner scandal right out. It would be tremendous content. But we can’t get to that point until the Sixers finish this phase of the saga and eject the Colangelos into the sky. We’re waiting.

Big news out of Los Angeles: the giant Boban Marjanovic, traded to the Clippers this season in the Blake Griffin deal, will play a villanous assasin in John Wick: Chapter 3, according to Collider.

Sometimes we can have nice things. Please join me in referring to Boban as New Shaq henceforth.

Making sense of newly released body cam footage in the Sterling Brown police brutality case.

Two WNBA games on Tuesday: Mercury-Liberty at 11 a.m. ET (morning basketball!) on Twitter, Sun-Dream at 8 p.m. ET on League Pass.

Zito Madu on never taking your eyes off Steph Curry. Marcus Thompson on Steph’s audacity.

The awesome REWINDER dives deep into Derek Fisher’s famous 0.4 shot.

LeBron wants the Cavaliers to continue to be uncomfortable heading home.

Fascinating data and chart showing the comparative impact of LeBron and Jordan to the best Finals teammates.

Rounding up another wild Sunday in the WNBA.

Doris Burke inked a new deal with ESPN, which means she will not have an intriguing free agency this summer. Some of us were hoping Turner would open up the vault to make her their new No. 1 color commentator. Sorry, Reggie.

Monty Williams is returning to the coaching ranks, joining Brett Brown’s staff in Philadelphia.

How Kevin Durant bounced back. How Stephen Curry hit nine threes.

It should not surprise you to find out that WNBA players are taking more threes than ever, too.

The Warriors’ rescreening tactics really hurt the Cavaliers in Game 2.

What the Lakers have to offer LeBron.

How much of the Connecticut Sun’s fast start has been due to luck?

No, Air Bud is not the answer for the Cavaliers.

The Pistons’ coaching search seems to be narrowed down to three candidates: John Beilein, Dwane Casey, and Ime Udoka.

An ode to Otto Porter’s continued improvement.

Hilarious piece from Alex Wong on how the 1998 NBA Finals during into a wrestling feud between Dennis Rodman and Karl Malone. The one time in his life The Mailman was likeable.

The NBA is considering expanding the draft beyond two rounds.

On all that is at stakes for the Nuggets this summer.

Shea Corrigan talked to a multitude of people (including yours truly) for this thesis on how NBA Twitter has changed.

How likely are the Sixers to sign LeBron really?

An argument that Andre Drummond should ditch the jumper and focusing on improving his putback game.

Why bad contracts could be good for the Kings.

Big questions around the Nets’ draft plans.

And finally: this uncut video of the Cavaliers bench — primarily LeBron and J.R. Smith — after the end of regulation in the infamous Game 1 is the single saddest movie I’ve seen since Up.

Be excellent to each other.