Daryl Morey's unimpressive first year with the Sixers

[FlyingArrow]

Disappointing result, but I'm fine with what Morey did. If Green isn't injured, we win despite the mess that this series was.



The collapses losing big leads this series, and the flat game 7, and Ben being afraid and never shooting... that's motivation and team culture. Setting that is one of the main jobs of the coach. Everyone can share the blame for this fiasco, but Doc Rivers gets the biggest share.

[djsunyc]

for a guy that put up a team like he did in houston - with space/pace and 3's, and also came really close to breaking through...i'm a bit surprised he stood pat at the deadline.

he suffered through a cp3 injury that may have cost them a chip. how does he not know that with embiid's health, you don't get many chances to go for it.

he had a team where everybody could shoot and the only one that couldn't was his center (capela). but he felt simmons would be a good fit?

ok, he had tobias + simmons + embiid...you had an opportunity to add someone that the team desperately needed for a legit push this season w/o moving any of them and he chickened out. now adding someone at that level will require moving one of those 3 - so instead of adding to it, it's more a swapping out.

i think morey really dropped the ball and i'm a bit shocked he didn't really go after it this deadline. him and ainge...too scared to make that final move man. who knows if embiid will be healthy for another long season and playoff run again.

an for an analytics guy...why didn't he use some analytics on doc? his playoff record has been quite poor.

[SixthStreet]

he suffered through a cp3 injury that may have cost them a chip. how does he not know that with embiid's health, you don't get many chances to go for it.

I see your argument but I take that same fact (Embiid's health record) as you have to build a resiliant roster and not piss away assets for one or two runs. Now, Harden is a different animal altogether and worth going all in on, but other than him it wasn't worth it.

I think Embiid will lose weight eventually and age well and we should construct the roster around him with the next 6-8 years in mind. This is the natural time for a reboot and add draft picks rather than chase past prime or late prime non-difference makers like McCollum or Lavine. Find the young guards we need in the draft or via trade.

Embiid will carry the young ones to the playoffs and then they'll help him move deeper.

[djsunyc]

he suffered through a cp3 injury that may have cost them a chip. how does he not know that with embiid's health, you don't get many chances to go for it.

I see your argument but I take that same fact (Embiid's health record) as you have to build a resiliant roster and not piss away assets for one or two runs. Now, Harden is a different animal altogether and worth going all in on, but other than him it wasn't worth it.

I think Embiid will lose weight eventually and age well and we should construct the roster around him with the next 6-8 years in mind. This is the natural time for a reboot and add draft picks rather than chase past prime or late prime non-difference makers like McCollum or Lavine. Find the young guards we need in the draft or via trade.

Embiid will carry the young ones to the playoffs and then they'll help him move deeper.

embiid has 2 more years under contract before he signs his supermax at 29. i don't see how embiid gets healthier from ages 29-34.

[SixthStreet]

I think he weighs too much. He should drop weight as he gets older to maintain mobility and primarily use a face up game to score. He can still anchor a defense with less weight. He should use Karl Malone as the framework of how he should approach offense and Duncan as the defensive framework. Both of them got slender as they got older. I think we'll see Embiid do the same and have a more resilient body. I'm bullish on Embiid's long term impact unless some weird unforeseen injury befalls him.

[sixers hoops]

He got rid of Horford’s contract and the Richardson/Curry deal was one of the best this year lol highway robbery.

Wtf are you talking about? Morey has walked into a big turd Frankenstein Factory and now there’s only three dungheaps (Doc, Harris & Ben) left.

I’m high on the Harris for Wall + Pick swap. People say it’s a crap move nah it’s genius. Watch for a Morey special

He didn’t back out of the Harden deal, that’s just a giant lie and false. The Rockets owner is an idiot and tried to leverage the market and ended up with a worse return. Heck Cavs made out like bandits lol

Masai tried to leverage the market with Lowry and three buyers said no. Morey ain’t no funny GM he knows whatsup.

Harris and Ben is gone.

If you can’t see that well I don’t know what to tell you.

Yeah. Morey had a good season. Good draft. Great trade to dump Horford. Great trade for Seth. Loved the Danny Green and George Hill pickups. Unfortunately, George didn’t shoot the ball well.

His biggest mistake, to me, was entering the season without a real starting point guard. I said it repeatedly before the season that we would reach the playoffs, Ben would be rendered useless, and we would have to play with an inadequate replacement. I’m not a genius. I’ve just seen this movie several times, so I already know the ending.

All-in-all, Morey is off to a good start. Not spectacular. Just some good moves in the right direction.

[sixers hoops]

The issue with trading all your assets for Harden was that he was out of shape and getting to an age where injuries and drop offs in play happen. Then he got injured.

I don’t think Morey had a great year or anything but at the very least he didn’t do any long term harm. Gotta make some moves at some point though.

I agree it's a risk, but there may not be a "perfect time" to give up all your assets. There may not be for example a 26 year old superstar who becomes available at the perfect time where you go "this guy is really young and healthy, and is already elite and has room to grow still, no brainer gamble."

Embiid's elite years remaining are on borrowed time. It may be 4 elite years, it may be 2. No one knows. But I think it was worth the gamble in a season where there were no super teams to contend with and also, say you trade for Harden and you don't win during the 2 seasons you have with him. Well... you already waited 40 years for a championship at that point. If giving up all your assets puts you back 5 years, then what's another 5 years wait? At least you went for it.

I have a feeling he's going to panic trade Ben Simmons for 25 cents on the dollar compared to what his value was 5 months ago, and that's going to be that. Their last remaining trade chip gone and still no superstar perimeter guy to pair with Embiid, and you're still nowhere close to a healthy Nets teams and maybe still not even the Bucks.

Idk if there’s ever a perfect time but I’m not gonna get on a guy for not trading Simmons, Maxey, Thybulle and three firsts or whatever for a guy that just averaged 10 ppg in a playoff series and is a year from demanding a $55 million a year extension through when he’s 37.

If he pulls an Ainge and never really goes for it then that’s fair but I’m gonna give him at least 365 days on the job before getting impatient with him.

It seems like everybody except the person who made the thread realizes Morey did a good job with what he was given. You can’t have these unrealistic expectations for Morey that involve him offering more picks than the CBA allows, or forcing other teams to give us players for whatever we want, or simply saying “do whatever it takes to get a star.”

Other teams have better location for free agency, more cap space, more first round picks available to offer, better trade assets, not as many bad contracts, etc. I’m sure if Morey can get Lillard, he will. However, Ben and Tobias arent the most desirable assets to offer. We owe a future protected first in 2025, which affects what firsts round picks we are allowed to trade. Some of our most valuable assets are Maxey and Seth, who Morey actually drafted and traded for.

I would say to call Morey’s performance unimpressive is having unrealistic expectations and not understanding the actual resources Morey had available to him. Maybe criticizing not making a Harden trade is fair game, but the Nets had more picks to offer, along with Allen and Lavert. Houston clearly seemed most concerned with the picks, so I’m not surprised they sent him to Brooklyn. However, if Durant, Harden, and Irving, stay even semi-healthy, Houston will get some really low first round picks and swaps that won’t convert.

Nevertheless, Morey just may not had the assets to get it done. Some reports said he didn’t want to include Maxey. Some said Maxey and Thybulle. Some said Rockets never intended to make a deal with Morey. Some said we didn’t want to include Simmons.We really don’t know.

I would think even his harshest critic would have to admit he did a good job with the challenges he faced.

[DCasey91]

Morey has done an impressive job for the position that he’s been put into from the start.

No one should expect a GM to literally right the ship first year when there’s multiples horrible contracts, ill fitting pieces, and just a mess.

We had Horford and Richardson so 4 bad deals on one team it’s an impossible task to get rid off 4 in one season and come out ahead. Especially with way less assets to work with than our previous two shocking GM’s and league wise in general. And guess what? Our position is so much better then last years like not close. That’s the sign of a good GM. There is direction here at a cost of only one 1st rounder. From the position last year which was horrible and worse until now, suddenly it doesn’t look so bad.

Morey legit started with a whole mess not just a one or two move type thing.

This off-season is where the fun starts.

[Skates]

Morey's biggest issues this year were related to who he is, not what he did.

Feritta was never going to send Harden here, that was personal so he kept moving the goalposts back and in the process got himself a very meh deal.

CP3 didn't like Morey sending him to OKC, so he wasn't going to come here.

Those things come with a guy with history, good and bad, it happens.

My biggest issue was not upgrading the bench with a better 4/5 instead of Scott, but that was also the most sought after spot at the deadline by all reports. Still, he could have done better there and given us more options.

Draft was great, especially value for slots taken, and the draft day trades were cleaning up a mess someone else made, very good trades that were very necessary.

We did have the best record in the East, number one seed, and it was a weird year everywhere with no SL, Covid absences, minimal turn around (shorter for Simmons too, who was injured coming out of the bubble).

He did very well, and this always felt like the year before something more. Lowry at the deadline would not have won us the title, the price got crazy and he was a rental in all likelihood.

[sixers hoops]

Morey's biggest issues this year were related to who he is, not what he did.

Feritta was never going to send Harden here, that was personal so he kept moving the goalposts back and in the process got himself a very meh deal.

CP3 didn't like Morey sending him to OKC, so he wasn't going to come here.

Those things come with a guy with history, good and bad, it happens.

My biggest issue was not upgrading the bench with a better 4/5 instead of Scott, but that was also the most sought after spot at the deadline by all reports. Still, he could have done better there and given us more options.

Draft was great, especially value for slots taken, and the draft day trades were cleaning up a mess someone else made, very good trades that were very necessary.

We did have the best record in the East, number one seed, and it was a weird year everywhere with no SL, Covid absences, minimal turn around (shorter for Simmons too, who was injured coming out of the bubble).

He did very well, and this always felt like the year before something more. Lowry at the deadline would not have won us the title, the price got crazy and he was a rental in all likelihood.

I still think any GM going into a season calling Ben their starting point guard didn’t do their homework. I’m sure Doc and Elton talked up Ben as a point guard, but how many times will we watch the same idea fail? It’s like doing an experiment, it fails. Change nothing. Try it again. Fails again. Keep everything the same. Crap. It failed again. New GM and coach. Let’s give it another shot. Failed again.

It’s like a bad dream over and over. And every time Ben Simmons is your point guard and Vince Velasquez your fifth starter.

[DCasey91]

Thing is we are not a FA destination. Bad ties or bad blood, there is zero guarantee a high profile player will stick around. Even at buyout we were lucky getting beli and ilyasova.

Howard for his price even what happened in the playoffs is downright hindsight. It’s the easiest thing in the world to say well he should’ve or shouldn’t have. Howard for his price was very very smart.

Hence the overpays for Harris/Horford it’s free extra $$$ for them. We had to overpay Redick ffs lol.

Long less money swap contracts (CJ), overpaid short term contracts (Wall), young stud potential contracts (Lotto, young max) is better then long overpays for middling players that don’t move the needle and aren’t worth anywhere near what to pay. Let them go and move on.

Heck we even have an expiring in Hill, and have Curry.

I’m not a doom and gloom person. The silver lining here is both Simmons and Harris’s contracts opens everything up direction wise.

[sixers hoops]

Thing is we are not a FA destination. Bad ties or bad blood, there is zero guarantee a high profile player will stick around. Even at buyout we were lucky getting beli and ilyasova.

Howard for his price even what happened in the playoffs is downright hindsight. It’s the easiest thing in the world to say well he should’ve or shouldn’t have. Howard for his price was very very smart.

Hence the overpays for Harris/Horford it’s free extra $$$ for them. We had to overpay Redick ffs lol.

Long less money swap contracts (CJ), overpaid short term contracts (Wall), young stud potential contracts (Lotto, young max) is better then long overpays for middling players that don’t move the needle and aren’t worth anywhere near what to pay. Let them go and move on.

Heck we even have an expiring in Hill, and have Curry.

I’m not a doom and gloom person. The silver lining here is both Simmons and Harris’s contracts opens everything up direction wise.

Finally realized what ffs is. I always glossed passed it because I didn’t know, but your Redick context made it obvious lol

[Lou_23]

Morey did a good job the past year, and he will make a good job this offseason.

[FireMorey]

I'm fine being alone on this. I wasn't a fan of what he did his first year. Do I think he should be fired? No... not yet anyway. If he lands a Lillard or a Beal or a LaVine or someone that hasn't been brought up yet of that caliber, then I'll commend him just like I would anyone else. But if his big offseason move this summer is trading Simmons for pennies on the dollar, then yeah I'll pound the table for firing him. You don't bring in a guy like Morey to strike out on chances to land superstars, and then let your #1 trade chip depreciate in value and then trade them at a low point. That's not good general managing.

Bryan Colangelo and Elton Brand could do stupid crap like that. You brought Daryl Morey in to make things happen that you don't think most GMs in the league are clever or creative enough to make happen. If he can't do that, then what good is he?

And if that seems like it's overly demanding, well yeah, when your best player might be one injury away from his body failing him, it's not like Sixers fans have the luxury of patience. Morey was brought here to resuscitate the Sixers' situation and salvage their chance to win with Embiid while he's still elite. And if not, then find someone who can. And plus, I gotta be honest, Morey just rubs me the wrong way. Something about him I find smug and don't like. So whenever he makes an error, it's amplified for me with my dislike for him.

[Embiid P]

I'm fine being alone on this. I wasn't a fan of what he did his first year. Do I think he should be fired? No... not yet anyway. If he lands a Lillard or a Beal or a LaVine or someone that hasn't been brought up yet of that caliber, then I'll commend him just like I would anyone else. But if his big offseason move this summer is trading Simmons for pennies on the dollar, then yeah I'll pound the table for firing him. You don't bring in a guy like Morey to strike out on chances to land superstars, and then let your #1 trade chip depreciate in value and then trade them at a low point. That's not good general managing.

Bryan Colangelo and Elton Brand could do stupid crap like that. You brought Daryl Morey in to make things happen that you don't think most GMs in the league are clever or creative enough to make happen. If he can't do that, then what good is he?

And if that seems like it's overly demanding, well yeah, when your best player might be one injury away from his body failing him, it's not like Sixers fans have the luxury of patience. Morey was brought here to resuscitate the Sixers' situation and salvage their chance to win with Embiid while he's still elite. And if not, then find someone who can. And plus, I gotta be honest, Morey just rubs me the wrong way. Something about him I find smug and don't like. So whenever he makes an error, it's amplified for me with my dislike for him.

In one breath, you say that Morey can't let Embiid's prime go to waste, and in the next, you say that he can't trade Simmons for pennies on the dollar. Which is it?

I agree that he shouldn't settle for any trade just to get rid of Simmons, but at the same time, he can't hold onto him for too long otherwise we'll be in the same Groundhog Day type of situation in the playoffs, thus wasting another season of Embiid's career.

Barring a miracle that Simmons starts regularly shooting from the outside, becoming more aggressive overall, and improving his foul shooting come next season, I can't imagine that his trade value will change much between now and next year's trade deadline.

I'm also not a huge fan of contending teams like ours making blockbuster trades midseason because it allows less time for the team to develop chemistry.

[DCasey91]

I'm fine being alone on this. I wasn't a fan of what he did his first year. Do I think he should be fired? No... not yet anyway. If he lands a Lillard or a Beal or a LaVine or someone that hasn't been brought up yet of that caliber, then I'll commend him just like I would anyone else. But if his big offseason move this summer is trading Simmons for pennies on the dollar, then yeah I'll pound the table for firing him. You don't bring in a guy like Morey to strike out on chances to land superstars, and then let your #1 trade chip depreciate in value and then trade them at a low point. That's not good general managing.

Bryan Colangelo and Elton Brand could do stupid crap like that. You brought Daryl Morey in to make things happen that you don't think most GMs in the league are clever or creative enough to make happen. If he can't do that, then what good is he?

And if that seems like it's overly demanding, well yeah, when your best player might be one injury away from his body failing him, it's not like Sixers fans have the luxury of patience. Morey was brought here to resuscitate the Sixers' situation and salvage their chance to win with Embiid while he's still elite. And if not, then find someone who can. And plus, I gotta be honest, Morey just rubs me the wrong way. Something about him I find smug and don't like. So whenever he makes an error, it's amplified for me with my dislike for him.

He moved Horford’s contract and Richardson at minimal damage. Curry, Green and Howard was very good. He’s going to get that pick value back with Curry. Somehow getting rid of 2/4 in one season and coming out even stevens is very good GM work. Colangelo and Brand has fuked us good and proper. If we had either or we’d be dead in the water. A kid would make better decisions lol.
Hill was a whiff but those picks are negligible, this ain’t 2k where you can hit every pick.
What I’m seeing is he is working down the list.

Ben and Harris is next. Would prefer Harris first but the lotto today will be a big formulation imo.

Relax Morey is the only sensible one in the whole entire organization. Do you know how much of a mess this team was in like a year ago? It’s going to take 2 seasons at minimum to right the wrong it’s just how it works. Our position is a lot better to me from the eye. And he started with less than ideal assets than a normal GM would have.

Fwiw Ben ain’t that valuable amigo. But there is very very defined market for him. Wolves are salivating atm, let them.

He likes to aim for older undervalued players or go big. This is the right man for the job.

[FireMorey]

I'm fine being alone on this. I wasn't a fan of what he did his first year. Do I think he should be fired? No... not yet anyway. If he lands a Lillard or a Beal or a LaVine or someone that hasn't been brought up yet of that caliber, then I'll commend him just like I would anyone else. But if his big offseason move this summer is trading Simmons for pennies on the dollar, then yeah I'll pound the table for firing him. You don't bring in a guy like Morey to strike out on chances to land superstars, and then let your #1 trade chip depreciate in value and then trade them at a low point. That's not good general managing.

Bryan Colangelo and Elton Brand could do stupid crap like that. You brought Daryl Morey in to make things happen that you don't think most GMs in the league are clever or creative enough to make happen. If he can't do that, then what good is he?

And if that seems like it's overly demanding, well yeah, when your best player might be one injury away from his body failing him, it's not like Sixers fans have the luxury of patience. Morey was brought here to resuscitate the Sixers' situation and salvage their chance to win with Embiid while he's still elite. And if not, then find someone who can. And plus, I gotta be honest, Morey just rubs me the wrong way. Something about him I find smug and don't like. So whenever he makes an error, it's amplified for me with my dislike for him.

In one breath, you say that Morey can't let Embiid's prime go to waste, and in the next, you say that he can't trade Simmons for pennies on the dollar. Which is it?

I agree that he shouldn't settle for any trade just to get rid of Simmons, but at the same time, he can't hold onto him for too long otherwise we'll be in the same Groundhog Day type of situation in the playoffs, thus wasting another season of Embiid's career.

Barring a miracle that Simmons starts regularly shooting from the outside, becoming more aggressive overall, and improving his foul shooting come next season, I can't imagine that his trade value will change much between now and next year's trade deadline.

I'm also not a huge fan of contending teams like ours making blockbuster trades midseason because it allows less time for the team to develop chemistry.

Those aren't mutually exclusive. Trading Ben Simmons for pennies on the dollar is not going to prevent Embiid's prime for being wasted. That's not going to win you a championship.

[Embiid P]

I'm fine being alone on this. I wasn't a fan of what he did his first year. Do I think he should be fired? No... not yet anyway. If he lands a Lillard or a Beal or a LaVine or someone that hasn't been brought up yet of that caliber, then I'll commend him just like I would anyone else. But if his big offseason move this summer is trading Simmons for pennies on the dollar, then yeah I'll pound the table for firing him. You don't bring in a guy like Morey to strike out on chances to land superstars, and then let your #1 trade chip depreciate in value and then trade them at a low point. That's not good general managing.

Bryan Colangelo and Elton Brand could do stupid crap like that. You brought Daryl Morey in to make things happen that you don't think most GMs in the league are clever or creative enough to make happen. If he can't do that, then what good is he?

And if that seems like it's overly demanding, well yeah, when your best player might be one injury away from his body failing him, it's not like Sixers fans have the luxury of patience. Morey was brought here to resuscitate the Sixers' situation and salvage their chance to win with Embiid while he's still elite. And if not, then find someone who can. And plus, I gotta be honest, Morey just rubs me the wrong way. Something about him I find smug and don't like. So whenever he makes an error, it's amplified for me with my dislike for him.

In one breath, you say that Morey can't let Embiid's prime go to waste, and in the next, you say that he can't trade Simmons for pennies on the dollar. Which is it?

I agree that he shouldn't settle for any trade just to get rid of Simmons, but at the same time, he can't hold onto him for too long otherwise we'll be in the same Groundhog Day type of situation in the playoffs, thus wasting another season of Embiid's career.

Barring a miracle that Simmons starts regularly shooting from the outside, becoming more aggressive overall, and improving his foul shooting come next season, I can't imagine that his trade value will change much between now and next year's trade deadline.

I'm also not a huge fan of contending teams like ours making blockbuster trades midseason because it allows less time for the team to develop chemistry.

Those aren't mutually exclusive. Trading Ben Simmons for pennies on the dollar is not going to prevent Embiid's prime for being wasted. That's not going to win you a championship.

Neither will holding on to him in the hope that he will somehow raise his value in the regular season. At this point, expecting Simmons to improve his offensive game after 4-5 seasons is like hoping to win the Powerball.

[FireMorey]

In one breath, you say that Morey can't let Embiid's prime go to waste, and in the next, you say that he can't trade Simmons for pennies on the dollar. Which is it?

I agree that he shouldn't settle for any trade just to get rid of Simmons, but at the same time, he can't hold onto him for too long otherwise we'll be in the same Groundhog Day type of situation in the playoffs, thus wasting another season of Embiid's career.

Barring a miracle that Simmons starts regularly shooting from the outside, becoming more aggressive overall, and improving his foul shooting come next season, I can't imagine that his trade value will change much between now and next year's trade deadline.

I'm also not a huge fan of contending teams like ours making blockbuster trades midseason because it allows less time for the team to develop chemistry.

Those aren't mutually exclusive. Trading Ben Simmons for pennies on the dollar is not going to prevent Embiid's prime for being wasted. That's not going to win you a championship.

Neither will holding on to him in the hope that he will somehow raise his value in the regular season. At this point, expecting Simmons to improve his offensive game after 4-5 seasons is like hoping to win the Powerball.

Better chance than trading him for a guy like Wiggins, which is a 0% chance. I actually think he could easily raise his value. Recency bias is real. He doesn't even have to improve, he just needs to revert to what he was in the regular seasons for his career for his value to rebound.

That said, if Morey is as great as people say, this won't be a problem. He'll find a way to get a legit player with Simmons included, somehow.

[syntax]

The biggest concern for Morey right now is what he does with Embiid and his contract extension.

2023/24- $42.5M
2024/25- $46.0M
2025/26- $49.4M
2026/27- $52.8M

That's what his deal would look like, kicking in at 2023/24.

With his injury history, if he goes down, the Sixers are done. Embiid is 27, Yao broke his foot at 28 and it ended his career.