Sixers president Daryl Morey faces career-defining season as James Harden saga looms over his legacy

The best grade for Daryl Morey’s tenure as 76ers president of basketball operations is an incomplete.

Morey has done some good and some bad since signing a lucrative contract on Nov. 2, 2020. But critics will point out that the executive, who was billed as a savior, has not advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs.

He’ll ultimately be judged by that and the resolution of the James Harden saga. With those things in mind, this will be a defining season for Morey’s legacy.

He was recognized as one of the most-high profile executives in professional sports during his stint as general manager of the Houston Rockets. In Morey’s 14 seasons there, the Rockets never finished with a losing record while posting a 640-400 mark.

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The Sixers hired former coach Doc Rivers on Oct. 3, 2020, and Morey a month later in part to get beyond the second round for the first time since 2001.

Rivers received the lion’s share of the blame for the Sixers’ 112-88 Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals in May. It marked the third consecutive season that his squad suffered a second-round postseason defeat.

Morey fired Rivers and replaced him with Nick Nurse, who is more in line with his thinking. So moving forward, Morey will be the person blamed for any shortcomings.

The Sixers and Phoenix Suns can boast the only teams to win at least one round in each of the last three postseasons. But that’s nothing more than a minor note in the grand scheme of things. Everyone in the organization — owners, executives, coaches, and players — knows all that matters is winning a championship.

“Look, I feel like we have the MVP of the league [in reigning MVP Joel Embiid],” Morey said. “We have a great roster. And our aspiration should be the championship. I don’t really focus on the second round … because I’ve been past the second round several times.”

Morey went on to admit, “Yes, it’s a super-critical year.”

“Because, look, you only have so many years with a great roster like this,” he said. “... We’re excited about what Coach Nurse can bring. All those things put together a really, really good year.”

But the success of this season and Morey’s legacy could depend on how the Harden situation is resolved.

The team president passed on several potential trades before packaging Ben Simmons to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Harden in February 2022. Less than two years later, Harden has been a no-show at practice while seeking a trade to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Unfortunately, there haven’t been a lot of suitors for the 34-year-old point guard.

So the acquisition of Harden, especially with the uncertainty surrounding what they can get in return, does not look like a good move considering some of the players the Sixers could have had.

Trading Matisse Thybulle to the Portland Trail Blazers and acquiring Jalen McDaniels from the Charlotte Hornets in a three-team deal on Feb. 9 also did not have a great shelf life.

In addition to McDaniels, the Sixers received the New York Knicks’ 2024 second-round pick and the Blazers’ 2029 second-rounder. The move enabled the Sixers to eliminate salary and get below the luxury-tax threshold.

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But Morey said the deal was about preparing for the playoffs and winning a championship.

“We wanted to make sure we gave [Rivers] as many two-way players as possible,” Morey said on Feb. 10. “And we think Jalen is one of the up-and-coming solid defenders, somebody that’s a little easier to keep on the floor in a lot of matchups.”

But that was far from the case in the second round against the Celtics. McDaniels struggled on both ends of the floor and was benched in Games 4, 5, and 7. He played only 36 seconds in Game 6.

The Sixers could have used Thybulle, a two-time second-team all-defensive player, to guard All-NBA wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. McDaniels did not re-sign with the Sixers in free agency. Nor did sharpshooting forward Georges Niang, who signed a three-year, $25.5 million deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Bucks and Celtics made major offseason upgrades to their rosters.

Milwaukee acquired All-NBA point guard Damian Lillard from the Trail Blazers. The Celtics made deals for standout point guard Jrue Holiday and post player Kristaps Porziņģis

“I understand the sense of [wanting] more,” Morey said. “Boston and Milwaukee made trades that there’s positive sentiment. I would say let’s see it play out. Because last year, we had a good offseason. I think we did a lot of good moves this year, but from perception-wise, last year was perceived as a very good offseason. Unfortunately, that still ended in disappointment. But it didn’t change, right?

“So look when you make moves, like Boston’s made some radical moves. Milwaukee has, too. They don’t always work. I could name all the moves for big players. Not every team can win the title, right? So they’re not all going to work.”

While the Celtics acquired Holiday and Porziņģis, they parted ways with team leader Marcus Smart. Boston also traded sixth man of the year Malcolm Brogdon and elite rim protector Robert Williams III.

“I do believe what Milwaukee and Boston have done is very good,” Morey said, “but this is why we play the games. We’ve got the MVP of the league. We have an up-and-coming, star-level player in [Tyrese] Maxey. We’ve got great, great winning-type players on this roster.”

But Morey has been wise to ensure that the Sixers have flexibility moving forward.

Embiid, P.J. Tucker, Paul Reed, Jaden Springer, and Filip Petrusev are the only Sixers with standard NBA contracts that go beyond this season. The Sixers intend to have enough salary-cap space available next summer to sign Maxey and an A-list free agent to lucrative contracts.

Morey did turn a bad situation into a manageable one shortly after being hired.

He took over a squad with spacing issues, a poorly constructed roster, and bad contracts that made the goal to compete for an NBA title extremely tough.

But on the night of the draft in November 2020, under his watch, the Sixers cleaned up the huge mess that the front office created in the summer of 2019. Morey polished the roster with much-needed shooters, and swept away Al Horford’s contract.

Before the draft, he agreed to send the 34th pick, a future first-round pick, and Horford to the Oklahoma City Thunder for a package that included three-and-D player Danny Green. Then he used the 21st pick of the draft to select Maxey out of Kentucky. Afterward, the Sixers packaged the 36th pick and Josh Richardson to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for sharpshooter Seth Curry.

The acquisitions of Curry and Green helped to create spacing for Embiid and Simmons.

But getting out from underneath Horford’s massive contract was just as big. The veteran had three seasons left on the four-year, $97 million guaranteed deal he signed in free agency on July 10, 2019. The power forward/center could have made up to $109 million with championship bonuses.

Maxey, who was projected to be selected in the teens, turned out to be a first-round steal for the Sixers.

“I don’t think anyone should care about anything, really, but the players on the floor and our head coach,” said Morey when asked about solid moves during his tenure. “Like myself, [general manager] Elton [Brand], ownership, the front office, we’re not looking for credit. We’re just looking to win the [bleeping] title.”

The Sixers eventually sent Curry to Brooklyn with Simmons in the deal for Harden. They would trade Green to the Memphis Grizzlies for De’Anthony Melton on the night of the 2022 draft. However, Green rejoined the Sixer this offseason.

Morey has been consistently good for his whole career. Houston recorded the second-best record in the NBA during his tenure. The Rockets also made 10 postseason appearances, highlighted by two trips to the Western Conference finals.

His Sixers have compiled the league’s third-best record (154-82) over the last three regular seasons.

“I’ve had great people around me,” Morey said. “I never had a losing season, been deep in the playoffs. ... And we haven’t won it all. So that’s frustrating. So I’m on the same benchmark the fans are.”

But staying consistently good as long as Morey has is hard. It required a lot of work to get the Sixers back to being considered a contender.

It’s easy to forget that his tenure in Philly started with reshaping a roster. That team went on to win the organization’s first regular-season conference title since 2001. The Sixers’ 54-28 record this past season was their best mark since going 56-26 during that 2000-01 season.

“This year, regardless of what happens with James, we’re going to be a very [bleeping] good team,” Morey said. “If James is here, we’re going to be even better. If James isn’t here or we trade him for something, we’re going to be very good.”

Time will tell.

But the Sixers traded for Harden with the hope of having him for the future as a championship piece. So until this situation is resolved, it’s hard to put a grade on Morey’s tenure. The bottom line is that the Sixers haven’t advanced beyond the second round.

That was the goal when Morey was hired. So far, he has failed. But right now, the grade is an incomplete because it’s unclear what he can get for Harden.