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Philadelphia 76ers hire Sam Hinkie as next GM

Tthe Sixers have reached an agreement with Houston Rockets assistant general manager Sam Hinkie to become the team's new GM.

The Sixers have reached an agreement with Houston Rockets assistant general manager Sam Hinkie to become the team's new GM, according to multiple reports.

With current GM Tony DiLeo's departure and the impending retirement of president Rod Thorn, Hinkie will be the Sixers' top decision-maker on all things basketball, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

Less than a year after they passed on him initially to promote DiLeo to the position, the Sixers will sign Hinkie to a multi-year deal, per Bob Cooney of the Daily News.

Hinkie, known widely around the league as a "moneyball manager" due to his part in pioneering analytic assessment in the NBA, will become the 76ers' third GM since July of 2011.

As the new GM, Hinkie will lead the hunt for a new head coach and be tasked with pointing the flailing franchise back in the right direction.

Hinkie's hiring is clearly representative of a shift in philosophy for the franchise. Former head coach and de-facto basketball brain Doug Collins famously informed the Inquirer that "he would rather blow his brains out than read 20-page printouts after games;" an obvious shot at the analytics community.

Hinkie on the other hand, regularly attends the annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference and places much import on the area. He has also worked with Rockets GM Daryl Morey, who is synonymous with analytics in the NBA, for the past eight seasons.

"I'm probably pretty boring to watch a game with because I'm all about expected values," he told Rockets.com in a 2008 interview.

After the disappointment of last season it is no surprise to see ownership wanting to take the organization in a drastically different direction.

Before working with the Rockets, the Stanford graduate provided statistical analysis and advice to several National Football League teams, and worked as a private equity and venture capitalist.