NFL
By: Brock Vierra
Before I begin, I would like to take a moment to offer my well wishes to my brother Mark T. Wilson. He’s not sick or anything, he’s just a Philadelphia 76ers fan. Unfortunately for Mark and the many native Philadelphians who have had to suffer through their basketball team’s front-office failures, it does not look like they’re getting a reprieve anytime soon. This latest saga between GM Daryl Morey and superstar James Harden has reached another impasse. As a lifelong Houston Rockets fan, the issues between the two are nothing new for me, and the way that Morey constructs basketball teams always ends in a premature playoff exit. Here’s why the Sixers won’t win with Daryl Morey.
Let’s start with James Harden. Putting aside my personal disdain for the dribbling hamburgler, it is clear that despite his failures in the postseason, there is still a trade market available for him. However, this beef has gone public in such a negative way that the once viable trade market is now diminished so that no team is willing to provide Philadelphia adequate compensation for Harden. Now not only do you have a disgruntled superstar, you have an immovable piece that is eating up a massive portion of your cap space. After the Lillard trade, there’s now even less of a market for Harden.
But let’s talk about the Damian Lillard trade. With Lillard now on the Bucks, the Eastern Conference has made massive moves to improve their rosters while the Sixers’ biggest acquisition was Patrick Beverly. Now I have nothing against Pat Bev but he isn’t the player at this point in his career that is going to elevate the Sixers from a team that can’t make the ECF to being an NBA champion.
However, while Philadelphia prepares to make do with what they got, the Milwaukee Bucks went and got a superstar to give them an authentic Big 3. Now that’s no shot against longtime vet Jrue Holliday, the NBA champion is once again in the driver’s seat as he looks to guide a promising Celtics team to their first title since 2008. The Celtics have had two straight seasons in which they achieved success. With a finals appearance in 2022 and an ECF appearance in 2023, they now have a true point guard that will open up opportunities for Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
The problem with Daryl Morey is that he can’t build a winner. The reason why is that he likes his guys and that is that. Do you know how many times I saw my Rockets acquire Trevor Ariza? A lot. Matter of fact, since Morey went to Philadelphia, he has brought over former Rockets James Harden, P.J. Tucker, Montrezl Harrell, Danuel House Jr, Patrick Beverly and Dwight Howard. I’m surprised Jeremy Lin and Eric Gordon didn’t get signed at this point.
Yet throughout his multiple failures in Houston, Morey has yet to learn the most crucial of lessons. His guys do not produce championships. Now I was a little surprised with the hire of Nick Nurse. Not because of Nurse himself but I had Mike D’Antoni penciled in due to his familiarity with Morey and Harden. However when you look at this roster, it feels just like the small ball era with Russell Westbrook and James Harden, just with a huge big in Joel Embiid. Now if Embiid was a true big like Clint Capela, I would feel more confident but with Embiid’s propensity to shoot long range shots and play on the perimeter, I question how tough the Sixers are going to be in the paint. I still have vivid memories of Jayson Tatum taking the ball to the rim of almost every possession in their playoff matchup.
Daryl Morey has done nothing in his four years to turn the Sixers into contenders. He got rid of Ben Simmons to go nowhere. Tobias Harris continues to haunt their salary cap. James Harden continues to be an aging distraction and the Sixers continue to fall in the Eastern Conference arms race. He is not on the level of Pat Riley, Brad Stevens, Masai Ujiri, Sean Marks or the other top team builders in the East. Until the Sixers get a cutthroat killer in the front office, they will continue to perform below expectations. It’s time for Morey and Elton Brand to go.
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