Getty Evan Turner
Evan Turner was still on the Philadelphia 76ers when Sam Hinkie’s “The Process” came into full effect. With the Sixers starting their rebuild in 2013, Turner’s future with the team was clouded with doubt, which led to him being traded to the Indiana Pacers the following year.
On the September 21 episode of “The Old Man & the Three,” Turner delved into the uncertainty he felt while he was still playing for the Sixers when it was clear that they were starting a new chapter.
“Publicly saying, ‘Oh, we’re about to tank.’ You go up to Sam Hinkie, and it’s like, ‘Yo, I’ve been working my whole career to battle to get here. Yeah, I give a f*** about winning,” Turner said. “I was at home crying. We sit there, and we show up, and I’m like, ‘Sam, can I talk to you about my future?’ And shouts Sam Hinkie, whatever, like it’s business. ‘I got five minutes for you’. To talk about my f***ing future? So we started talking about certain stuff. I would love to do that, but when we enter all this stuff, it’s a business of basketball that you forget about, and then when you sit there as well, and you remember at the level of being a bust, the unknown and scary.”
Turner landed on his feet and played in the NBA until 2020, but playing for a team that saw him as yesterday’s news understandably scared him, knowing how that could impact his future.
Andre Iguodala Believes Sixers Should Be Fined
Turner’s former teammate Andre Iguodala was also on the same episode and explained why he believes the Sixers should be fined for all that’s happened during the James Harden drama, particularly after he pubically called Daryl Morey a liar.
“Teams should be fined as well when that player is fined. So when James goes and makes these comments, and James is fined, we all know they changed the rules on when you can start negotiating with players before free agency because everybody had their deal done before free agency. We all know that James was told, ‘You’re going to get this deal.’ Hush hush under the table,” Iguodala said.
Iguodala added that Harden should not have been fined since he was expressing how upset he was at the situation.
“The team can say it was an assumption. What did James do wrong to get fined? He said I was lied to. If I lie to you, I’m a liar in that moment. I may not be a liar, but I was a liar within that five seconds. So yes, James Harden made a true statement. So why would he get fined? I would prefer the team should be fined $5 million because come on now. Like yeah, we can’t prove it, but that happened. Like that happened, and that’s where I get upset.”
James Harden Still Hopes to be Traded to Clippers: Report
On September 22, Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer reported that, with NBA’s Media Day coming up, the Sixers are dealing with a similar situation with Harden as the Portland Trail Blazers are with Damian Lillard, adding that Harden still wants to join the Los Angeles Clippers.
“Since the initial July talks stemming from Lillard’s trade request did not result in a deal to his preferred destination of Miami or another potential landing spot such as Brooklyn, the beginning of training camp — and media day Oct. 2 — has loomed as the unofficial deadline for Portland to part with Lillard and start a new Blazers era in earnest. That’s even more so than the ongoing dynamic in Philadelphia, where James Harden still hopes to be moved to the LA Clippers,” Fischer wrote.
The Sixers may very well get rid of Harden before that date, but they may not send him to the Clippers.