Hinkie is flirting with that zone on purpose, to strategically build a powerhouse. It's brilliant in a selfish way, because by deferring expectations years down the road, he avoids criticism for a lack of performance now. You can't kill him for the Sixers being awful when he's made the Sixers as awful as possible on purpose. He's pursued the most naked, arguably myopic form of rebuilding possible. He's owned it completely. Because of that, because it's so obvious and out in the open, it's hard to criticize.
But it's even harder to stomach. As the Sixers get out to something like a 4-20 start this season, the push to reform the lottery and end tanking will grow stronger. GMs and owners will be more vocal in decrying the obvious multi-year ploy for high picks. The Hinkie Gambit will be vilified as a perfectly legal but perfectly gross exploitation of the NBA Draft system. You may hear someone like Thaddeus Young or Carter-Williams lash out (though they are smart and classy fellows, so perhaps not). You'll certainly hear thrashing from the Philly media.
