As the Sixers' season reaches a disappointing conclusion, being eliminated in 7 games by the Hawks, the first instinct of any fan, writer, blogger, or talk show host is going to be finding someone to blame. I'm sure Ben Simmons is going to be one of the hottest names to choose. A max player who could hardly generate any offense when it mattered most, and historically struggled from the free throw line. I'm sure Tobias Harris will be mentioned. Another max player, who was overpaid by the Sixers front office, but nonetheless, you expect more out of a player who's shown at times he can take his offensive game to another level than he gave his team with the season on the line. I'm sure some will even blame Joel Embiid for tiring in the 4th quarters of big games, which, in my opinion is asinine, but it'll happen... count on that. And lastly, people will blame Doc Rivers for his rotations, and having a track record of his teams coughing up leads in playoff games, and blowing series where his teams were ahead. But don't expect many people, if any, to even utter Daryl Morey's name among those to blame for the Sixers season ending in disaster... but they should.
Daryl Morey had a very underwhelming first season as Sixers President of Basketball Operations. Especially when you consider his track record and the expectations accompanied with the hire. You bring in a guy like Morey to land premium talent, to land big fish. That's what the NBA is all about, it's what every team wants. To amass as many superstar players as possible, and position themselves to acquire them. Some even decimating their current prospects, to be in position to maybe land one several years from that point. And in Morey's first year, he had the opportunity of a lifetime. To land an all-time great scorer, and first ballot HOFer, James Harden. He's the exact player the Sixers have been looking for since the days of Allen Iverson. A high volume scorer from the perimeter, who can create his own shot, can shoot from deep, attack the basket, score on all 3 levels, and setup his teammates. He commands double teams. He was the perfect compliment to Joel Embiid, in a season where Embiid finally put it all together and played like the best player in the league. And according to reports, he had the Sixers atop his list as desired destinations.
Think about how rare that is. In my entire life, and I'm in my mid-30's, I've never had a top 5 NBA player desire coming to the Sixers above all other NBA teams. NBC Sports' John Clark reported the Sixers were James Harden's top destination he wanted to be traded to. It was all teed for Daryl Morey to drive this thing home... and he botched it, in what will prove to be, in my opinion, the biggest mistake of his career even if he general manages for another 20 years. Some will use the excuse that "Houston was never trading him to Philly anyway." Based on what? A couple blurbs from people on Twitter who said Rockets owner Tillman Fertitta didn't want to let Daryl Morey win? Of course he didn't. But that's different than saying Fertitta refused to trade him to the Sixers. I'm sure the Dallas Cowboys didn't want to trade DeVonta Smith to the Eagles either, but they did it because they got a good price from the Eagles. This is professional sports. Teams don't harm their own organizations to spite others. That's not how this works.
In addition to all that, Daryl Morey reportedly informed Ben Simmons' camp that he should expect to be traded on the day the trade went down. So obviously Daryl Morey didn't believe there was no chance they would trade Harden to Philly. Quite the opposite. He not only believed it was possible, he believed it was imminent. Why would he believe that unless in negotiations he was told they'd trade Harden to the Sixers? If he was ever told or led to believe they wouldn't trade Harden to Philly, he wouldn't have even wasted his time. Morey has been around the block, he knows how to negotiate trades. I believe Sixers fans have used this excuse to protect themselves from the feelings of regret. It's easier to cope with a missed opportunity when you tell yourself it had no chance of happening in the first place. I used to do it when I was a teenager too afraid to ask out the best looking girls at my high school or in my neighborhoods and found out they eventually went on to date someone else. "Eh... she was never going to say yes to me anyway" was an easier mindset than spending my time lamenting my cowardly decision to not take that plunge.
James Harden isn't a Sixer because the Sixers didn't match the Nets' colossal draft pick compensation, and/or because they refused to give up their young players, namely Thybulle or Maxey. The Rockets obviously didn't covet Ben Simmons as much as they'd have hoped, because if they thought he was a franchise player, they would have leapt at the chance to replace one superstar with another. What this tells you more than anything is maybe the value of Ben Simmons around the league isn't as high as it is to Sixers faithful. And now, after a hugely disappointing playoff run, the organization and fans alike are wondering what remaining value he has, and what caliber of player they could get by trading him. I don't know the answer to that, but I can tell you they won't be the caliber of James Harden.
Daryl Morey did some nice things in his first year in Philly. He got rid of a bad Al Horford contract, but had to give up a future draft pick to do so. He swapped Josh Richardson, for a better fit(and probably better player, which was debated at the time of the deal) in Seth Curry, and drafted Tyrese Maxey, though I put that more on the scouts, who scouted these players long before Morey signed on to manage the Sixers front office. His offseason was fine. Not great, but fine. I don't throw the word "great" around, and acquiring role players certainly doesn't quality as "great" in my book. But his in-season decisions were underwhelming at best, and if you count missing out on Harden as a move or decision, quite terrible. He made some singles, maybe an extra base hit in there, but with the game on the line and the bases loaded, he struck out. Harden and Embiid would have been an unconscionably good duo that would've been unstoppable in the East, and the fact that didn't happen is on Daryl Morey, and he deserves a major part of the blame for why the Sixers are currently sitting at home watching the rest of the NBA playoffs carry on without them. Yes, the Sixers season ended on June 20th, but I'll argue their hopes for a title truly ended on January 14th, 2021.
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