Sam Hinkie seems to approve of the Flyers' top draft pick.
The Philadelphia Flyers selected Russian phenom winger Matvei Michkov with the No. 7 overall pick in Wednesday night's draft. Michkov is under contract with the Kontinental Hockey League for the next three seasons, but by all accounts is one of the most talented players in the entire draft.
Hinkie, the former Sixers general manager, is of course famous in Philadelphia for starting "The Process," where Hinkie continuously chose the long-term, patient option in hopes of success down the road.
In 2014, Hinkie selected Joel Embiid with the No. 3 overall pick, despite the big man out of Kansas dealing with a foot injury. Last season, Embiid was named NBA MVP.
That same year, Hinkie selected Dario Saric with the 12th overall pick even though Saric would come to the NBA until 2016.
The Flyers, under their new regime led by Keith Jones and Danny Briere, are taking a long-term approach, focused on draft picks.
Jonesy even sounded a lot like Hinkie during his interview on the 94WIP Morning Show this week.
"It's a little bit of both, we're trying to thread that needle," Jones admitted. "But the draft choices, the higher picks would definitely be a priority for us. There's no question that we're trying to build our draft capital and have all kinds of options as we move forward. And just because you have first round picks doesn't mean that you necessarily use them, as far as drafting them and developing them. It just gives you more options further down the road, whether it's a long way down the road or a little bit shorter distance remains to be seen. But having those options really can put you in a position to advance your team at an adequate speed that is going to keep your fans interested and get the team back on track, hopefully sooner than later."
"Are we going to be waiting until 2028?" Joe DeCamara asked.
"No, no you're not. The plan would be to get there sooner, obviously than 2028. We have an idea where we're going to be a much more competitive team, it's not that far away."
Keep up with 94WIP via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
