76ers 2023-24 Season Thread Part 2

[Skates]

Next summer is likely, and this is total speculation and a tiny bit of logic, going to be a mix of re-signing two of Hield, Melton, maybe re-signing Martin too, using bird rights after making one big move around the time of the draft that fills up the spots of anyone we renounce. Maybe we use S&T's to move some of our own FA's. I think signing a big FA is the least likely possibility and more likely we fill up the cap and re-sign some guys with Bird rights to go over and operate as an over the Cap team once we hand Maxey his bag.

[SixthStreet]

What are the rules on signing guys you traded who were subsequently waived? Can you re-sign them after they clear? I wouldn't mind having House Jr back if our nursing home wings remain out with their various maladies.

[FireMorey]

Next summer is likely, and this is total speculation and a tiny bit of logic, going to be a mix of re-signing two of Hield, Melton, maybe re-signing Martin too, using bird rights after making one big move around the time of the draft that fills up the spots of anyone we renounce. Maybe we use S&T's to move some of our own FA's. I think signing a big FA is the least likely possibility and more likely we fill up the cap and re-sign some guys with Bird rights to go over and operate as an over the Cap team once we hand Maxey his bag.

There aren't many star caliber guys to sign, so I've always thought that was the least likely. I guess there is the chance they could pursue a Siakam type if he's available and then use the rest of the money to fill out with middle tier guys, but I don't know if that's likely either. Morey probably has a few potential trade guys in mind who he thinks could possibly be available, or, and I've always thought this was a possibility, use that money to take on contracts teams want to dump with picks attached. And add to the 5 first rounders available for them to trade so they can over a mega haul of picks for a superstar at some point. But I think that is a last resort if they can't get immediate impact guys with their cap space. But I'd think/hope Morey has specific guys in mind he wants to use that money on. He's always eyeing specific players.

[Ferry Avenue]

The problem with all this is not the intent, but the misjudgment year after year in what it takes to get an adequate roster on the floor. First Harden was supposed to be the answer. Then it became needing to surround Harden and the other stars with complementary pieces. Then Harden wasn’t the answer. Now it’s become surrounding the remaining stars with complementary pieces. Getting it wrong year after year is not a sign of good roster management.

[M2J]

Hield vs. Celtics, Jan 30 game:
- He defended Derrick White and Jrue the entire game.
- Surprisingly, he proved to be a good defender against White and Jrue, making some key defensive plays down the stretch, such as forcing Jrue into an 8-second violation and generating a turnover off Porzingis.

Buddy is a capable one on one guy, but gets lost in team rotations and help defense
-

[Jailblazers7]

Look on the bright side, we can always destroy our franchise by trading for Lavine in the summer.

[M2J]

The problem with all this is not the intent, but the misjudgment year after year in what it takes to get an adequate roster on the floor. First Harden was supposed to be the answer. Then it became needing to surround Harden and the other stars with complementary pieces. Then Harden wasn’t the answer. Now it’s become surrounding the remaining stars with complementary pieces. Getting it wrong year after year is not a sign of good roster management.

I'm my opinion he blew the Harden/Simmons situation due to his infatuation with that guy. But, other than that he's been fine, but he does need to get something done before the next playoff run.

I said it coming into this year and I'll double down on that after the trade deadline. This is maybe the most impressive hedged build for a contender I've ever seen. Meaning, he's kicking the can down the road for asset building, but while he was waiting to trade Harden, he was fortunate Oubre didn't go to Miami waiting on Lillard. Picked up some nice minimum deals. Then with Buddy, got him without sending out a rotation player or first rounder and all the moves made them better. They have a well fitting roster and can keep them all or go after a big whale. But they need to do something by 2025 playoffs to make it all make sense.

Clearly he did not get the asset base needed to get a star from the Harden trade. Which is why he's waiting to acquire more assets to distress the sixers future even more.

[Black Mage]

The problem with all this is not the intent, but the misjudgment year after year in what it takes to get an adequate roster on the floor. First Harden was supposed to be the answer. Then it became needing to surround Harden and the other stars with complementary pieces. Then Harden wasn’t the answer. Now it’s become surrounding the remaining stars with complementary pieces. Getting it wrong year after year is not a sign of good roster management.

Outside of Haliburton (and there's conflicting reports whether he was ever available for Simmons) there was no other place to dump Ben. If you want to insist on a mistake, it was Morey not moving Ben the moment he got into town before his value completely cratered. But that was an organizational failure for stupidly conning themselves into believing the emo-cripple-boy Simmons would EVER change. That is where I miss Hinkie the most; he might whiff, but he was quick to acknowledge it and shrewd enough to dump the player BEFORE every other team figured out what he knew.

Of the moves made by other teams, only the Celtics (who somehow almost always seem to be a below market value deal done) and Lakers (who also ALWAYS get below market value deals done) no other team got a player we could have used for cheap. So again, outside of the league tampering and ensuring the 2 storied franchises get preferable trades, nothing we could do.

[Mik317]

thats all fine and good but thats been the same song and dance for the last 4 years lol.

Good GMs make **** happen...every deadline we save money, get some seconds and go "oh but wait until offseason doe". None of the guys given up is the problem, its just that it seems like we are always doing it for some nebulous future that keeps getting pushed down the road lol.

Hield and I guess Payne are improvements to our lack of shooting. But it came at the expense of the few defenders we had, locker room guys, and potentially helped two other contenders in the process. Like Springer may be hot dawg ass but now Boston has a guy they can throw into a game and guard other top tier guys and they have the spacing to make up for his **** offense. Meanwhile we still have bad wing depth (worse now), still only two ballhandlers with one corpse coming in, and our bigs are bad without Jo...so you "solved" one issue and created others....and now the fix is the buyout market...which we have no had any luck in near a decade now. Its just vision-less behavior IMO under the guise of some master plan that from where I am standing doesn't feel like it will really work. The plan is to get stars in FA when 1. we never have 2. your rep as a liar is out there 3. your main target is 34 and with the guy who said you are a liar. It just doesn't pass the smell test IMO

I have said that on paper none of the moves made have been world endingly bad and that remains the case. But it just feels like we are constantly waiting for the aha moment to come and it simply never does

[FireMorey]

That's the thing with Morey. The NBA is different from other sports. It's way more about star chasing than other sports. Morey was brought in to bring stability, but he was also brought in to land stars. Outside of a washed up Harden, he's done neither. The narrative when Morey was signed was "The Sixers are getting arguably the best GM in the NBA." What has he done that the 21st best GM in the NBA couldn't do? He has not landed any stars, he hasn't even really gotten involved in any stars. He's done nothing creative. Even his smaller moves have been hit and miss. His entire offseason last year was a disaster. Already undid all his signings because they were all trash.

But in the unlikely event that Morey is still some great GM and just was too restrained, well now he has his cap room and picks. So let's see him go out this summer and do something with it. And if not, then I don't think anyone out there can make the argument that the guy doesn't suck.

[Magicman125]

Seth Curry was very good playing off Embiid on offense. Hopefully Embiid can return in time for the playoffs and him and Hield will have a similar chemistry.

[Stanford]

Most GMs don't land stars. They either draft them, inherit them, or they're lucky enough to have a star demand a trade to their team. NBA players have more autonomy than any other team sport athlete. Which GMs can we say have actually landed a star?

[FireMorey]

Irrespective of the Sixers:

Lakers(Davis, LeBron)
Clippers(George, Kawhi, Harden)
Cavs(Mitchell)
Suns(Durant, Beal)
Nets(Durant, Kyrie, Harden)
Raptors(Kawhi)
Bucks(Lillard, Holiday at the time acquired was borderline)
Heat(Butler)
Warriors(Durant)
Mavericks(Kyrie)
Knicks(Brunson... wasn't a true star at the time they signed him, but has become one, so if you want to exclude this, fine)

So that's 10-11 teams off the top of my head that in recent years were able to land a star or stars. And Morey with the Rockets was able to get Harden and Chris Paul, so he himself has a history of chasing stars.

Morey got Harden with the Sixers, it didn't work out. Now he needs to find a way to get another.

[Bum Adebayo]

Irrespective of the Sixers:

Lakers(Davis, LeBron)
Clippers(George, Kawhi, Harden)
Cavs(Mitchell)
Suns(Durant, Beal)
Nets(Durant, Kyrie, Harden)
Raptors(Kawhi)
Bucks(Lillard, Holiday at the time acquired was borderline)
Heat(Butler)
Warriors(Durant)
Mavericks(Kyrie)
Knicks(Brunson... wasn't a true star at the time they signed him, but has become one, so if you want to exclude this, fine)

So that's 10-11 teams off the top of my head that in recent years were able to land a star or stars. And Morey with the Rockets was able to get Harden and Chris Paul, so he himself has a history of chasing stars.

Morey got Harden with the Sixers, it didn't work out. Now he needs to find a way to get another.

No star wants to come to this mess of a team, well maybe the Lavines of the world but that's pushing it as far as star go.

[Stanford]

Sounds like Morey has landed as many stars as anyone else. You had to go back nearly a decade for a list of 10. Many of the moves you listed would have happened regardless of the GM. LeBron to the Lakers, Kawhi to the Clippers, Durant to the Nets. These were location-based decisions where the player ended up with more organizational power than actual GM.

(lol Beal)

[Eyeamok]

I know Morey bashing is a popular thing right about now. But Kork, House and Morris who were all traded away and the team got some kind of return on them. Each on of them got released from the team they were traded to. That is some good work by the GM and even better work by the coach who actually used these guys to win a game or two.

And don't get me wrong I really enjoyed Pat Beverly's time here, but the trade deadline is a fluid animal and things change quickly. Morey traded him to a team that is going to the playoffs and his profile will increase. There was a period of time when Beverly was on the open market and I don't recall teams breaking their necks to sign him. Morey signed him Beverly made the most of his situation it was a win win for everyone.

But the Springer trade, because it's to Boston, just rubs me the wrong way.

[FireMorey]

Sounds like Morey has landed as many stars as anyone else. You had to go back nearly a decade for a list of 10. Many of the moves you listed would have happened regardless of the GM. LeBron to the Lakers, Kawhi to the Clippers, Durant to the Nets. These were location-based decisions where the player ended up with more organizational power than actual GM.

(lol Beal)

Yes, acquiring stars is difficult. When you hire a high profile GM like Morey, that's what you're hoping he can do. Anyone who says they'd be satisfied with him swapping role players in and out for his entire tenure is lying out of their ass. He can either find a way to acquire one or he can't. This summer will be his best chance in a while given the flexibility.

This seems like mere contrarianism and playing devil's advocate just for the sake of it.

[cool93]

Irrespective of the Sixers:

Lakers(Davis, LeBron) GM played NO role in both of those
Clippers(George, Kawhi, Harden) Gm played NO role in Kawhi and close to no role in giving up a farm for PG, Harden demanding a trade to LAC isnt on GM too
Cavs(Mitchell)
Suns(Durant, Beal) Beal lol
Nets(Durant, Kyrie, Harden) GM played no role in Durant/Kyrie, Harden demanding a trade to LAC isnt on GM
Raptors(Kawhi)
Bucks(Lillard, Holiday at the time acquired was borderline)
Heat(Butler)
Warriors(Durant)
Mavericks(Kyrie) lol
Knicks(Brunson... wasn't a true star at the time they signed him, but has become one, so if you want to exclude this, fine)

Most of those had nothing to do with GM. Morey landing Harden is pretty similar to Butler, Kyrie to Mavs and Kawhi to Raps, it just didnt work out as good as first two.
Our summer plans are exactly for situations like Mitchell or Durant to Suns, and some people act like it would be better to give that option up for Dejonte Murray

[zaz102]

As sombering as the offseason and trade deadline have been, it's clear that roster building was secondary this year to maintaining flexibility for star hunting.

As a pro-Morey poster, I 100% agree with FireMorey's earlier post that this next year is sink or swim time. Acquiring a star is not easy, but that's Morey's duty. Is he creative or lucky enough to make it happen?

That being said, I'm pro-Morey because I think he has a vision and understands the assignment which is a lot more than some of the GMs out there (including a bunch of recent Sixers GMs).

For the love of Wilt, swim Morey, swim.

[brannigan73]

I know Morey bashing is a popular thing right about now. But Kork, House and Morris who were all traded away and the team got some kind of return on them. Each on of them got released from the team they were traded to. That is some good work by the GM and even better work by the coach who actually used these guys to win a game or two.

And don't get me wrong I really enjoyed Pat Beverly's time here, but the trade deadline is a fluid animal and things change quickly. Morey traded him to a team that is going to the playoffs and his profile will increase. There was a period of time when Beverly was on the open market and I don't recall teams breaking their necks to sign him. Morey signed him Beverly made the most of his situation it was a win win for everyone.

But the Springer trade, because it's to Boston, just rubs me the wrong way.

Why not part with one first round pick for bogdanovich? That would have been fine Heield and Bogey. Are you telling me that one damn 1 st round pick is going to stop us from getting a superstar this summer? Your not getting a superstar with just first round picks any way there is always a talented young player involved along with the pics. 3 or 4 firsts should get us a top 30 player and that's all we should expect anyway. Morey tried to go halfway and imo failed miserably. This team is going to continue to rack up losses until Embiid returns. I honestly don't see the point of Embiid returning if we are not top 6 seed. I just wish some of you would stop being so gullible and acting like we have forever with Embiid a walking injury timebomb.