The Official Fire Doc Rivers Thread

[FireMorey]

You’re straw manning again. I never said Rivers isn’t at fault for playing Jordan. He shouldn’t be playing. You completely ignored where I said Rivers is not without blame. He deserves some blame. Some. He’s not the biggest reason they lost game one. You’re blinded by your hate for Rivers that you can’t look at the situation objectively at all.

You wrote 4 extensive paragraphs about Rivers being witch hunted but i'm not being objective?

And yet the only rebuttal you could muster to my points was a total straw man of something I didn’t say. Everything I’ve laid out is completely fair.

[Murray_17]

And yet the only rebuttal you could muster to my points was a total straw man of something I didn’t say. Everything I’ve laid out is completely fair.

One of your arguments is that Embiid had a booboo in his hand while not being able to diferentiate game 4 from game 5. You literally said that we should renew Doc just to shut up his haters, independent ofthe benefits for the team.

Sorry if i don't take that kind of stuff seriously

[FireMorey]

And yet the only rebuttal you could muster to my points was a total straw man of something I didn’t say. Everything I’ve laid out is completely fair.

One of your arguments is that Embiid had a booboo in his hand while not being able to diferentiate game 4 from game 5. You literally said that we should renew Doc just to shut up his haters, independent ofthe benefits for the team.

Sorry if i don't take that kind of stuff seriously

Embiid hurt his hand during game 3 and didn't play all anywhere near his level of capability in games 4 or 5 so not sure what you're talking about.

[Jailblazers7]

Doc gets flamed because he failures are so obvious and predictable. He has two young bigs with talent & potential that everyone was BEGGING him to play so they could get seasoning for the playoffs. He decided not to do that.

Now, those same 2 young bigs are still his best option and he refuses to play one of them at all and instead starts the worst center in the league and gives Millsap minutes. He just makes it so easy to roast him.

I respect a lot of what Doc has done for this team and I’m not automatically on the “fire him” train. But he just keeps f*cking up the same way over and over so he’s gonna catch a lot of sh*t for it.

[FlyingArrow]

Doc gets flamed because he failures are so obvious and predictable. He has two young bigs with talent & potential that everyone was BEGGING him to play so they could get seasoning for the playoffs. He decided not to do that.

Now, those same 2 young bigs are still his best option and he refuses to play one of them at all and instead starts the worst center in the league and gives Millsap minutes. He just makes it so easy to roast him.

I respect a lot of what Doc has done for this team and I’m not automatically on the “fire him” train. But he just keeps f*cking up the same way over and over so he’s gonna catch a lot of sh*t for it.

To be fair, I do think Jordan is the right call over Millsap.

[Foshan]

Doc gets flamed because he failures are so obvious and predictable. He has two young bigs with talent & potential that everyone was BEGGING him to play so they could get seasoning for the playoffs. He decided not to do that.

Now, those same 2 young bigs are still his best option and he refuses to play one of them at all and instead starts the worst center in the league and gives Millsap minutes. He just makes it so easy to roast him.

I respect a lot of what Doc has done for this team and I’m not automatically on the “fire him” train. But he just keeps f*cking up the same way over and over so he’s gonna catch a lot of sh*t for it.

To be fair, I do think Jordan is the right call over Millsap.

Yeah, I don’t even mind Jordan playing the first 5 mins to be the vet presence. But then it should be Reed/Bassey small ball the rest of the way.

Also, I think he should have given Kork more run. If he scores in his first min or so playing, it usually means he’s focused and aggressive. That he got free throws and made them was a good sign he should have been given the green light to launch 3s. Instead he was in the bench until the end

[zimpy27]

I bet Sean Marks laughed his ass off when he sent DJ to us. He knew Doc could not resist touching the fire.

Jordan was a pick up when dropped by the Lakers.

Drummond may have been a big difference-maker in this series though

[mjkvol]

Doc gets flamed because he failures are so obvious and predictable. He has two young bigs with talent & potential that everyone was BEGGING him to play so they could get seasoning for the playoffs. He decided not to do that.

Now, those same 2 young bigs are still his best option and he refuses to play one of them at all and instead starts the worst center in the league and gives Millsap minutes. He just makes it so easy to roast him.

I respect a lot of what Doc has done for this team and I’m not automatically on the “fire him” train. But he just keeps f*cking up the same way over and over so he’s gonna catch a lot of sh*t for it.

To be fair, I do think Jordan is the right call over Millsap.

Yeah, I don’t even mind Jordan playing the first 5 mins to be the vet presence. But then it should be Reed/Bassey small ball the rest of the way.

Also, I think he should have given Kork more run. If he scores in his first min or so playing, it usually means he’s focused and aggressive. That he got free throws and made them was a good sign he should have been given the green light to launch 3s. Instead he was in the bench until the end

I believed one of the keys going in was that Glenn needed to be as flexible as possible in these two games, not sticking with players who aren't getting it done. It was clear that Green and Niang especially were off, so have Kork and even Joe ready to go, maybe finding lightning in an unexpected source. It just isn't how he's wired, and I don't expect him to change.

[FireMorey]

Doc gets flamed because he failures are so obvious and predictable. He has two young bigs with talent & potential that everyone was BEGGING him to play so they could get seasoning for the playoffs. He decided not to do that.

Now, those same 2 young bigs are still his best option and he refuses to play one of them at all and instead starts the worst center in the league and gives Millsap minutes. He just makes it so easy to roast him.

I respect a lot of what Doc has done for this team and I’m not automatically on the “fire him” train. But he just keeps f*cking up the same way over and over so he’s gonna catch a lot of sh*t for it.

Rivers deserves heat. Morey deserves just as much if not more heat and he gets none of it. At least Doc Rivers won a title. Something Morey has never done. If Harden isn’t hurt and this is all he is, Morey’s Sixers tenure so far will have been an utter disaster. Yet Morey gets next to no criticism. At least not as much as he should based on the job he’s done compared to the criticism Rivers gets.

If you want to fire Rivers, fine. But if Harden looks like this next year, then Morey has to go too.

[Zumramania]

A) So you’re saying a GM doesn’t know the plans of his coach? I don’t think that’s true, I think he knew very well, but if he didn’t then he’s not doing his job as Rivers’ boss. And if Jordan isn’t good enough to more than only play a couple minutes, he shouldn’t be handed a roster spot. That’s on Morey.

B) Losing to the #1 seed without Embiid is not “unimpressive” if they lose. And how do you know he has the best assistant coaches in the league? You just made that up lol. You’re proving my point for me. Right there you just gave all the credit to their success to the assistants but put all the failures on him for his “rotations” which don’t win and lose games anyway.

C) So Rivers melted down, but not the players? Once again, all Rivers’ fault. Never the players. Last time I checked Blake Griffin and Chris Paul didn’t go on to win a title without Doc Rivers either.

D) if they fire Doc. They’re hiring D’Antoni who’s never won anything. And if you want the Sixers to win a ring, they can start by finding a way to keep the best player who always gets hurt healthy. And getting a legit superstar perimeter scorer for the first time since Embiid has been here, because right now Harden is not it.

Back then it was also not that obvious that Reed and Bassey were this good since guess who was not giving them any minutes. And why not play Jordan just for a couple of minutes? Again, if nothing better was available, this is an ok veteran signing to fill in a roster spot.

He has the best or one of the best coaching staff in the league, this has been stated multiple times. At the same time, he is not considered a top 10 coach in the league.

He has by far the worst record in the NBA in closeout playoff games through multiple teams. There are multiple articles detailing his playoff failures and why he was responsible, e.g.: https://paceandspacehoops.com/doc-rivers-worst-coach-to-ever-win-an-nba-title/

The fact that D'Antoni never won anything is not that important, who says that he wouldn't have won even more titles than Doc if he had that Boston team or other teams that Doc coached. But I don't even prefer D'Antoni, I think Sam Cassell would be a good choice.

[Mik317]

Morey is not getting fired

its a moot point lol.

[Jailblazers7]

Doc gets flamed because he failures are so obvious and predictable. He has two young bigs with talent & potential that everyone was BEGGING him to play so they could get seasoning for the playoffs. He decided not to do that.

Now, those same 2 young bigs are still his best option and he refuses to play one of them at all and instead starts the worst center in the league and gives Millsap minutes. He just makes it so easy to roast him.

I respect a lot of what Doc has done for this team and I’m not automatically on the “fire him” train. But he just keeps f*cking up the same way over and over so he’s gonna catch a lot of sh*t for it.

Rivers deserves heat. Morey deserves just as much if not more heat and he gets none of it. At least Doc Rivers won a title. Something Morey has never done. If Harden isn’t hurt and this is all he is, Morey’s Sixers tenure so far will have been an utter disaster. Yet Morey gets next to no criticism. At least not as much as he should based on the job he’s done compared to the criticism Rivers gets.

If you want to fire Rivers, fine. But if Harden looks like this next year, then Morey has to go too.

I agree that Morey deserves some heat, especially his obsession with James Harden which might come back to bite us all in the ass. But the moves he’s made have been pretty damn good in light of the constraints he was under. His trades, signings, and picks all look pretty good. The Doc/Morey duo has done a good job of righting a ship that looked like it was ready to sink.

But there is legitimate reason to question if Doc is the right guy to be steering this team long-term. Some coaches are best at stabilizing a turbulent team but not at getting the absolute best out of them in a playoff series.

[FireMorey]

Doc gets flamed because he failures are so obvious and predictable. He has two young bigs with talent & potential that everyone was BEGGING him to play so they could get seasoning for the playoffs. He decided not to do that.

Now, those same 2 young bigs are still his best option and he refuses to play one of them at all and instead starts the worst center in the league and gives Millsap minutes. He just makes it so easy to roast him.

I respect a lot of what Doc has done for this team and I’m not automatically on the “fire him” train. But he just keeps f*cking up the same way over and over so he’s gonna catch a lot of sh*t for it.

Rivers deserves heat. Morey deserves just as much if not more heat and he gets none of it. At least Doc Rivers won a title. Something Morey has never done. If Harden isn’t hurt and this is all he is, Morey’s Sixers tenure so far will have been an utter disaster. Yet Morey gets next to no criticism. At least not as much as he should based on the job he’s done compared to the criticism Rivers gets.

If you want to fire Rivers, fine. But if Harden looks like this next year, then Morey has to go too.

I agree that Morey deserves some heat, especially his obsession with James Harden which might come back to bite us all in the ass. But the moves he’s made have been pretty damn good in light of the constraints he was under. His trades, signings, and picks all look pretty good. The Doc/Morey duo has done a good job of righting a ship that looked like it was ready to sink.

But there is legitimate reason to question if Doc is the right guy to be steering this team long-term. Some coaches are best at stabilizing a turbulent team but not at getting the absolute best out of them in a playoff series.

If the Harden move turns out to be bad, then I don't agree with that. Since my premise on firing him would be the the hypothetical of Harden being washed coming true, then let's assume that is the case for a second.

Harden trade - disaster if this is all Harden is. And passed on Haliburtin/Hield and McCollum/Simons/1st trades.
Curry trade - good. Not some epic trade, but good.
George Hill - bad. Then cut him months later.
Dwight Howard - meh. Ok signing. Not terrible, not great.
Drummond - solid. Decent signing. Not bad, not amazing.
Re-signing Danny Green - meh. Not a bad move, but possibly could've better spent money
Korkmaz re-signing - bad. Dude can't even get on the court.
Maxey pick - great. I think he probably just listens to the scouts on this one, but I'll credit him I guess.
Springer - TBD. Doesn't look like an NBA player, but we shall see.
DeAndre Jordan - bad.

That resume doesn't exactly look all that impressive to me at all. And I think there are more meh's and negatives than there are positives. How Harden looks next season will make or break this resume. If Harden looks like he does now or worse, it's pretty bad. If his hammy is the issue and he looks like 2020-21 Harden, then it'll certainly look better.

[mjkvol]

Doc gets flamed because he failures are so obvious and predictable. He has two young bigs with talent & potential that everyone was BEGGING him to play so they could get seasoning for the playoffs. He decided not to do that.

Now, those same 2 young bigs are still his best option and he refuses to play one of them at all and instead starts the worst center in the league and gives Millsap minutes. He just makes it so easy to roast him.

I respect a lot of what Doc has done for this team and I’m not automatically on the “fire him” train. But he just keeps f*cking up the same way over and over so he’s gonna catch a lot of sh*t for it.

Rivers deserves heat. Morey deserves just as much if not more heat and he gets none of it. At least Doc Rivers won a title. Something Morey has never done. If Harden isn’t hurt and this is all he is, Morey’s Sixers tenure so far will have been an utter disaster. Yet Morey gets next to no criticism. At least not as much as he should based on the job he’s done compared to the criticism Rivers gets.

If you want to fire Rivers, fine. But if Harden looks like this next year, then Morey has to go too.

I agree that Morey deserves some heat, especially his obsession with James Harden which might come back to bite us all in the ass. But the moves he’s made have been pretty damn good in light of the constraints he was under. His trades, signings, and picks all look pretty good. The Doc/Morey duo has done a good job of righting a ship that looked like it was ready to sink.

But there is legitimate reason to question if Doc is the right guy to be steering this team long-term. Some coaches are best at stabilizing a turbulent team but not at getting the absolute best out of them in a playoff series.

This nails it, but I'm not on board with calling it an 'obsession'. I truly believe that Morey wanted a difference maker for Simmons and not just a young piece with potential, obviously knows Harden well, and he was the one player closest to that description that could be had for Simmons. It very well might not work out in the end, but I believe he felt that was the best chance to maximize Embiid's prime.

Morey walked into an impossible spot where we were at a point of blowing the whole thing up, and through some shrewd moves and
a great pick has us on the cusp of contention with some roster massaging this summer.

Regarding Rivers, he is the perfect guy to stabilize a situation and get a team to the point of contention, but taking that next step requires a different coaching skill set, one which has proven not to be among his strengths. I would hate to look back in a few years and know we had a legit title contender that was done in by stubborness and lack of creativity and necessary adjustments at critical times.

[Jailblazers7]

He also drafted Reed & Bassey which look like promising picks as well. Also, I think Doc lobbied pretty hard to sign DAJ so there’s some shared blame on that one lol. But yea, if Harden is washed none of the other stuff really matters. It’s hard for me to judge the move tho because we don’t really know the alternatives he had available. It’s likely that he passed on a Hali & CJ trade but the details of those deals are unclear so it’s hard to say.

I think it ultimately comes down to that Doc’s failures are highly visible and predictable. We get to see the players he puts on the floor and the result of the game immediately. But with Morey, we don’t know the alternatives he weighed in these moves and we’ll only really know if they were good or bad in 2-3 years.

[mjkvol]

Harden trade - disaster if this is all Harden is. And passed on Haliburtin/Hield and McCollum/Simons/1st trades.
Curry trade - good. Not some epic trade, but good.
George Hill - bad. Then cut him months later.
Dwight Howard - meh. Ok signing. Not terrible, not great.
Drummond - solid. Decent signing. Not bad, not amazing.
Re-signing Danny Green - meh. Not a bad move, but possibly could've better spent money
Korkmaz re-signing - bad. Dude can't even get on the court.
Maxey pick - great. I think he probably just listens to the scouts on this one, but I'll credit him I guess.
Springer - TBD. Doesn't look like an NBA player, but we shall see.
DeAndre Jordan - bad.

- Harden is TBD, Hill was a bad signing, and I agree that Howard was meh, but other than that?

- Curry was an excellent pickup, and we got rid of Richardson in the deal, and the Green deal got us off of Horford. Those deals were as much about subtraction as addition, but we got two guys who became valuable contributors on good contracts.

- Korkmaz was an excellent signing at the time for a then ascending player at a good price, but he has regressed.

- The Maxey pick speaks for itself, and it's a matter of opinion on Springer, who has skills and looks like he will be a solid NBA player, or at the very least a nice trade chip. And as Jailblazers said, the Reed and Bassey picks are very promising.

- The Jordan signing was an abomination, but that one is as much on Doc, as this is his guy.

I don't see how that can be considered anything close to a 'bad' job. Morey turned a brutal situation into one where we have a shot at being a contender with a little more work on the roster.

[mjkvol]

He also drafted Reed & Bassey which look like promising picks as well. Also, I think Doc lobbied pretty hard to sign DAJ so there’s some shared blame on that one lol. But yea, if Harden is washed none of the other stuff really matters. It’s hard for me to judge the move tho because we don’t really know the alternatives he had available. It’s likely that he passed on a Hali & CJ trade but the details of those deals are unclear so it’s hard to say.

I think it ultimately comes down to that Doc’s failures are highly visible and predictable. We get to see the players he puts on the floor and the result of the game immediately. But with Morey, we don’t know the alternatives he weighed in these moves and we’ll only really know if they were good or bad in 2-3 years.

Yep, Morey's legacy here will ride Harden over the next few seasons, but it's crazy to say he's done anything other than a close to miraculous job reshaping this roster, a job that isn't yet finished.

[FireMorey]

Harden trade - disaster if this is all Harden is. And passed on Haliburtin/Hield and McCollum/Simons/1st trades.
Curry trade - good. Not some epic trade, but good.
George Hill - bad. Then cut him months later.
Dwight Howard - meh. Ok signing. Not terrible, not great.
Drummond - solid. Decent signing. Not bad, not amazing.
Re-signing Danny Green - meh. Not a bad move, but possibly could've better spent money
Korkmaz re-signing - bad. Dude can't even get on the court.
Maxey pick - great. I think he probably just listens to the scouts on this one, but I'll credit him I guess.
Springer - TBD. Doesn't look like an NBA player, but we shall see.
DeAndre Jordan - bad.

- Harden is TBD, Hill was a bad signing, and I agree that Howard was meh, but other than that?

- Curry was an excellent pickup, and we got rid of Richardson in the deal, and the Green deal got us off of Horford. Those deals were as much about subtraction as addition, but we got two guys who became valuable contributors on good contracts.

- Korkmaz was an excellent signing at the time for a then ascending player at a good price, but he has regressed.

- The Maxey pick speaks for itself, and it's a matter of opinion on Springer, who has skills and looks like he will be a solid NBA player, or at the very least a nice trade chip.

- The Jordan signing was an abomination, but that one is as much on Doc, as this is his guy.

I don't see how that can be considered anything close to a 'bad' job. Morey turned a brutal situation into one where we have a shot at being a contender with a little more work on the roster.

You didn't read what I said. I said if Harden is washed, then Morey should be fired. So I'm going on the hypothetical that he is to make that argument. I'm not saying he is.

The Curry trade IMO was not "excellent." It was a solid trade. I reserve the term excellent for home run trades. Like Hinkie robbing the Kings.

Korkmaz was not an excellent signing c'mon now. You have to evaluate the signings based on the outcomes, not in the moment. GMs are paid to be right. This move hasn't worked out. I don't see how it can be viewed as anything other than bad.

Morey was considered a top GM. He should be held to a very high standard. So far he has not improved the team. And if the Harden deal doesn't work out, may have handicapped the Sixers' future even more by tying them to a washed player and using their last resources to improve the team. If the Harden trade doesn't work out, this team has no shot at being a contender. And they'd be worse off than they were before he got here.

Good and bad are entirely subjective, so maybe your definition of that is different than mine, but I can tell you Elton Brand had a better start to his Sixers tenure than Morey has. Getting Jimmy Butler was a way better trade than anything Morey has done thus far.

Now if Harden turns back the clock next year, this is all moot. But that needs to happen for Morey to come out looking remotely good in any of this.

[mjkvol]

Harden trade - disaster if this is all Harden is. And passed on Haliburtin/Hield and McCollum/Simons/1st trades.
Curry trade - good. Not some epic trade, but good.
George Hill - bad. Then cut him months later.
Dwight Howard - meh. Ok signing. Not terrible, not great.
Drummond - solid. Decent signing. Not bad, not amazing.
Re-signing Danny Green - meh. Not a bad move, but possibly could've better spent money
Korkmaz re-signing - bad. Dude can't even get on the court.
Maxey pick - great. I think he probably just listens to the scouts on this one, but I'll credit him I guess.
Springer - TBD. Doesn't look like an NBA player, but we shall see.
DeAndre Jordan - bad.

- Harden is TBD, Hill was a bad signing, and I agree that Howard was meh, but other than that?

- Curry was an excellent pickup, and we got rid of Richardson in the deal, and the Green deal got us off of Horford. Those deals were as much about subtraction as addition, but we got two guys who became valuable contributors on good contracts.

- Korkmaz was an excellent signing at the time for a then ascending player at a good price, but he has regressed.

- The Maxey pick speaks for itself, and it's a matter of opinion on Springer, who has skills and looks like he will be a solid NBA player, or at the very least a nice trade chip.

- The Jordan signing was an abomination, but that one is as much on Doc, as this is his guy.

I don't see how that can be considered anything close to a 'bad' job. Morey turned a brutal situation into one where we have a shot at being a contender with a little more work on the roster.

You didn't read what I said. I said if Harden is washed, then Morey should be fired. So I'm going on the hypothetical that he is to make that argument. I'm not saying he is.

The Curry trade IMO was not "excellent." It was a solid trade. I reserve the term excellent for home run trades. Like Hinkie robbing the Kings.

Korkmaz was not an excellent signing c'mon now. You have to evaluate the signings based on the outcomes, not in the moment. GMs are paid to be right. This move hasn't worked out. I don't see how it can be viewed as anything other than bad.

Morey was considered a top GM. He should be held to a very high standard. So far he has not improved the team. And if the Harden deal doesn't work out, may have handicapped the Sixers' future even more by tying them to a washed player and using their last resources to improve the team. If the Harden trade doesn't work out, this team has no shot at being a contender. And they'd be worse off than they were before he got here.

Good and bad are entirely subjective, so maybe your definition of that is different than mine, but I can tell you Elton Brand had a better start to his Sixers tenure than Morey has. Getting Jimmy Butler was a way better trade than anything Morey has done thus far.

Now if Harden turns back the clock next year, this is all moot. But that needs to happen for Morey to come out looking remotely good in any of this.

Good point on Korkmaz, but I disagree on Curry. In a vacuum, his pickup is decent, but subtracting Richardson in the same deal elevates it to better than that.

Praising Brand's start without going further and including the bungling of the Butler situation resulting in the disastrous Harris contract and then the Horford signing is being beyond selective.

Listen, it's clear that Morey's time here will be gauged by how the Harden move turns out above and beyond anything else that happens, but to suggest that he hasn't improved the team since arriving is plain crazy. There is a lot of work to be done, but this isn't far from being a championship level roster assuming Harden has a couple of high level seasons left.

[FireMorey]

- Harden is TBD, Hill was a bad signing, and I agree that Howard was meh, but other than that?

- Curry was an excellent pickup, and we got rid of Richardson in the deal, and the Green deal got us off of Horford. Those deals were as much about subtraction as addition, but we got two guys who became valuable contributors on good contracts.

- Korkmaz was an excellent signing at the time for a then ascending player at a good price, but he has regressed.

- The Maxey pick speaks for itself, and it's a matter of opinion on Springer, who has skills and looks like he will be a solid NBA player, or at the very least a nice trade chip.

- The Jordan signing was an abomination, but that one is as much on Doc, as this is his guy.

I don't see how that can be considered anything close to a 'bad' job. Morey turned a brutal situation into one where we have a shot at being a contender with a little more work on the roster.

You didn't read what I said. I said if Harden is washed, then Morey should be fired. So I'm going on the hypothetical that he is to make that argument. I'm not saying he is.

The Curry trade IMO was not "excellent." It was a solid trade. I reserve the term excellent for home run trades. Like Hinkie robbing the Kings.

Korkmaz was not an excellent signing c'mon now. You have to evaluate the signings based on the outcomes, not in the moment. GMs are paid to be right. This move hasn't worked out. I don't see how it can be viewed as anything other than bad.

Morey was considered a top GM. He should be held to a very high standard. So far he has not improved the team. And if the Harden deal doesn't work out, may have handicapped the Sixers' future even more by tying them to a washed player and using their last resources to improve the team. If the Harden trade doesn't work out, this team has no shot at being a contender. And they'd be worse off than they were before he got here.

Good and bad are entirely subjective, so maybe your definition of that is different than mine, but I can tell you Elton Brand had a better start to his Sixers tenure than Morey has. Getting Jimmy Butler was a way better trade than anything Morey has done thus far.

Now if Harden turns back the clock next year, this is all moot. But that needs to happen for Morey to come out looking remotely good in any of this.

Good point on Korkmaz, but I disagree on Curry. In a vacuum, his pickup is decent, but subtracting Richardson in the same deal elevates it to better than that.

Praising Brand's start without going further and including the bungling of the Butler situation resulting in the disastrous Harris contract and then the Horford signing is being beyond selective.

Listen, it's clear that Morey's time here will be gauged by how the Harden move turns out above and beyond anything else that happens, but to suggest that he hasn't improved the team since arriving is plain crazy. There is a lot of work to be done, but this isn't far from being a championship level roster assuming Harden has a couple of high level seasons left.

I don't think the Butler situation was his fault. His hand was forced, as Brett Brown didn't want Butler back and Butler didn't want to be back as long as Brown and Simmons were here. From what I've seen, Brand's plan was to run it back and keep Butler, but his hand was forced. Yes, the Horford situation was a mess, but at least all it cost was money. If Harden is washed, that will hurt the Sixers more because they are likely going to re-sign Harden and they gave up picks, Simmons, and other players for him.

I think Brand did a poor job. But I'm saying his start to his Sixers tenure IMO was better than Morey's start. Brand's first two big moves were Butler and Harris. I think getting Harris was a mistake, but I wouldn't call it an awful trade. It was one they shouldn't have made, but at least Harris has been a solid player for the Sixers. I think Brand's best moves are better so far than Morey's best. And if Harden is washed, I think Morey's worst move will be worse than Brand's worst. That's how I'm evaluating it.