The Philadelphia 76ers introduced their new general manager, Sam Hinkie, and the first question he will have to answer (aside from the Draft) in reshaping the franchise is the 7-foot-1 elephant with bad knees in the room. While Daryl Morey might be saying how glad his former protege is in the Eastern Conference, this is not an easy decision or situation for Hinkie to walk into.

Hinkie and 76ers owner Josh Harris know that the trade they made last August to bring in the former Lakers All Star was a risky one -- and one Harris said he would do again despite Bynum missing the entire season -- but Hinkie is an analytics guy. And with Bynum sitting out the entire season before hitting free agency, it increases the stakes this summer.

The possibility of losing Andre Iguodala, NIkola Vucevic and Maurice Harkless for virtually nothing -- Bynum did not play the entire season and Jason Richardson missed half the season with knee issues -- leads to only one conclusion, as Hinkie told Christopher A. Vito of the Delaware County (Pa.) Daily Times:

Hinkie said it's fair to call the Sixers' trade for Andrew Bynum "a failure."

— Christopher A. Vito (@ChrisVito) May 14, 2013

Harris went on to describe the Bynum trade, at least for this past season, as a "sunk cost." In business-speak that is an investment that a businesss simply will not be able to get back.

Twitter has made the phenomenon of the posterizing dunk a cultural touchstone that inspires hashtags, constant replays, oohing and aahing and all kinds of hyperbole.

When DeAndre Jordan dunked on Brandon Knight, the NBA world went buzzing. When LeBron James threw down on Jason Terry, the cycle started again.

Everyone wants in on this action . . . so long as they are the one doing the dunking.

In our world's never-ending desire to set the next trend, "Posterizing" has become a thing. Featured on last night's Inside the NBA, some high school kids are part of this trend (unfortunate for the poor sap just standing there reading his texts):

I feel bad for this kid (unless it was planned) since Inside the NBA featured this bit of trendsetting on national television last night.

Fortunately, this trend is not quite catching on. Kids, it is best to leave the posterizing to the professionals:

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File this under "Why in the world Kobe wanted to share THIS with the masses?"

For some unknown reason, Lakers' Kobe Bryant felt the need to gross everyone out and post a photo via Instagram of his torn left Achilles heel -- during surgery! As is open flesh, blood seen, muscles exposed, and syringe in view. 

Seriously why Kobe? Why?

Check out this disgusting and cringe-worthy photo (h/t Larry Brown Sports) but avert your eyes if you do not like the sight of blood or just anything else this gross.

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Since Jerry Sloan abruptly left the Utah Jazz after 23 seasons in February 2011, his name has come up as a possible candidate for a couple of head coaching positions, but Sloan has always withdrawn because it was not the right fit.

The 71-year-old Hall of Famer is carefully choosing the team that could entice him out of retirement, and who can blame him?

Well it is starting to look like the right fit could be with the Milwaukee Bucks. Sloan has interviewed with the team and is reportedly being seriously considered.

The Bucks started this season with Scott Skiles as their head coach. Skiles left the team in what was called a “mutual decision” and was replaced with assistant Jim Boylan. After making the playoffs with a sub-.500 record, the Bucks decided they were not going to keep Boylan around, so the coaching search began.

If Sloan is going to take the job, he is going to have a project on his hands.

The Bucks have a lot of drama in the locker room and some pretty big egos on the team. The biggest problem is probably Brandon Jennings, but he will be a restricted free agent this offseason and may not return to the team next year.

Sloan is the right guy for the job. The Bucks are going to need someone who commands a lot of discipline and respect. They have some talented guys on the roster, including one of the better backcourts in the league with Jennings and Monta Ellis. Plus they also have some talented young players in Larry Sanders and Ersan Ilyasova.

Milwaukee certainly is not a bad team and with the right coach in place they could make some noise in the Eastern Conference. The question is whether or not the Bucks are worth it for Sloan. It would be nice to see him on the bench again, but only if it is the right fit.

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The teardrop shot.

Many NBA guards are now effectively using it as part of their offensive arsenal as they barrel their way in the paint to score over the big men in the league.

It is pretty much a simple move -- drive in the paint, timely arc the shot to the rim, see it sail over the fingertips of would-be defenders as it swishes into the basket for two points.

From Nate Robinson, Stephen Curry to Spurs' Tony Parker who recently joked the move originated with him, check out how such a elegant move can lead to big problems for defenders in the paint.

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Mark Cuban has always been at the head of the class in engaging fans and transforming his franchise. When he bought the Mavericks in 2000, he changed the team's look, perked up the amenities in Dallas and completely changed the franchise. The Mavericks went from also-ran bottom feeder to perennial Playoff team and, eventually, NBA champion.

For the first time in 12 years though, the Mavericks missed the Playoffs. Cuban opted to go in a different direction after winning his championship, clearing cap room for the time after Dirk Nowitzki (which is coming).

The Master of the Shark Tank is always looking for new ideas and so he is reaching out to the fans to redesign the Mavericks look. Cuban posted on his blog that Dallas will change its uniforms for the 2016 season and he is looking for fans to submit their jersey ideas for the team's consideration:

The Mavs are going to re-do our uniforms for the 2015-16 season… if we get a unique and original design. What’s the best way to come up with creative ideas ? You ask for them. So we are going to crowd source the design and colors of our uniforms.

You know what an NBA uniform looks like. You know what the Mavs colors are for today and the past. We want some new ideas that stay true to our logo and at least close to our current color schemes. Show us what you got !

The contest is open until the end of May, and, yes, the Mavericks will own your design once it is submitted (sorry, Cuban says). There is also no guarantee the team will pick a fan's design.

But kudos to Cuban for opening things up to the fans and letting them participate. He has always been good about opening up to fans and involving them in the franchise at some level.

This is also not the first time Cuban did anything off the wall with jerseys. He had Sean P. Diddy Combs (or whatever his name is now) design a green jersey for the Mavericks that was worn from 2004-09 as an alternate jersey. Hopefully this effort will be better than that one.

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When the Portland Trail Blazers offered Roy Hibbert a max $58.4 million, four-year deal it seemed like it was asking a lot from a one-time All Star who had a strong start to the shortened 2012 season, but struggled to the end. Hibbert was improving and had become a good player, but perhaps not someone you throw a max contract at and build a team around.

There were concerns when the Pacers decided to match that offer sheet, locking them into Hibbert and Danny Granger long term with David West's free agency upcoming and an untapped talent in Paul George. Hibbert and Granger were borderline all stars but did not have the consistency to be the bedrock of a championship franchise. For a team on the rise, that did not seem to fit in.

Or so we thought.

Hibbert was clearly a big part of what the Pacers want to build. Good centers are hard to find. Even with countless examples of centers overpaid simply for the use of their size.

His first year on that massive contract was not near the all star levels he displayed in the lockout-shortened 2012 season. He averaged 11.9 points and 8.3 rebounds per game this year but established himself as one of teh contenders for the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year Award. His Pacers were the third seed in the Eastern Conference for the full 82-game season and many feel they have a chance to make the Conference Finals and -- gasp -- challenge the Heat.

That is all a ways away. The five-year pro still needed to prove himself in the Playoffs crucible.

Against the Knicks, his play has been absolute key to the Pacers' 2-1 series lead.

One of the biggest stars in music today is aggravated with a certain NBA playoff team choosing to play his music to pump up their home fans.  Seattle based rapper Macklemore was informed by a Twitter follower that the Oklahoma City Thunder was playing his latest hit, "Can't Hold Us", to excite the home fans in the arena.  Macklemore's response was less than enthusiastic...

Colangelo's contract has a team option for next season with the Raptors, but it may be declined if the team heads in a complete rebuilding mode

I wrote back a few weeks ago that the Toronto Raptors were pursuing Phil Jackson for team president, a new role for the title-winning head coach. But now, with current president and general manager Bryan Colangelo facing a team option to determine his future role with the Raptors, the franchise--out of the playoffs for the last five seasons and 34-38 in the 2012-13 campaign--has a choice to make: Either keep Colangelo around and risk the continuing of futility or cut him loose, go all-out for Jackson, and drum up some more interest in the team if not improve it significantly.

As Frank Zicarelli of the Toronto Sun notes (note: In the column, he refers to the Nets as being from "New Jersey" still, not Brooklyn. Newspapers, I tell ya), the new president of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (the parent company of the Raptors), Tim Leiwecke, probably wants to distance his reign over the Raptors from the previous one by replacing the president and GM that fans of the team associate with the franchise's recent cold spell in terms of playoff appearances and overall success, of which has nose-dived since Chris Bosh left Toronto to join up with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in Miami with the Heat.

Lakers' Metta World Peace sat in on a local L.A. broadcast after the Warriors OT win over the Spurs and opened up about a lot of things ranging from his thought on Dwight Howard being a too jokey, his future with the Lakers and the NBA, playing defense and more including getting some advice from former Laker Michael Cooper on winning a title with this current L.A. team.

Check out what Metta had to say (h/t Lakers Nation) in the video below.