Will Daryl Morey save his job and trade the No. 3 pick, or do the right thing and invest in the Sixers’ future?
His five-year tenure has been an unmitigated disaster. Will he seek to salvage it with another short-term solution, or will he play the long game?
Few executives in any sport trade with the frequency and volume of 76ers president Daryl Morey. He is drawn to deals like the French are drawn to romance.
Just last summer, Morey brokered a 13-piece deal that sent Buddy Hield to Golden State in a sign-and-trade. It was so satisfying that, afterward, Morey smoked a cigarette in bed. Maybe.
Then again, in his 18 years as an NBA decision maker, the last five in Philly, Morey has never even been in the draft lottery, much less had a pick as high as the No. 3 slot the Sixers lucked into on Monday night (he once had No. 12, but he quickly traded that player).
The absence of chronically injured, max-salary stars Joel Embiid and Paul George meant a lost season that left the 76ers in the lottery. That, in turn, has left Morey in an interesting position as he ponders the pick and his job security.
His tenure as the Sixers’ president has been, in a word, a disaster. Instead of trading Ben Simmons for a number of younger players with obvious potential, he traded Simmons for his hoop crush, James Harden, a worn-out veteran and a repeated postseason bust who never played defense and whose offensive game became obsolete.
Morey then alienated Harden, who in 2023 boycotted the team, then forced a trade that netted the Sixers little more than salary cap space. Then last summer, Morey signed George to a four-year, free-agent deal. That deal’s first year was wasted. Then in September, before Embiid was fully recovered from a knee injury, Morey extended Embiid’s deal through 2028-29. Embiid was a non-factor this past season.
It gets worse.
The Sixers, with two championship coaches, have won just three playoff series in Morey’s five years and have not advanced past the second round, running their streak of early exits to 24 years.
Morey is under contract for three more seasons, or the length of George’s contract.
Is his job in peril?
Is he looking at the next couple of years with urgency?
If so, will he do what’s best for the team ... or what’s best for Daryl Morey?
Will he trade the pick for a more certain short-term addition?
After the Achilles rupture suffered by teammate Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo apparently has asked out of Milwaukee. It seems outlandish to imagine that the Sixers have any package that would match the offers the Bucks will receive.
But what about a middling, two-way, 20-minute veteran?
You know, the latest version of Kelly Oubre Jr.?
Morey insists the Sixers will stand pat. He insists this is a top-heavy draft in the vein of 2003, when he was an analytics expert with the Boston Celtics.
“Our plan is to pick this pick,” Morey said. “The top three, four, you could argue five, maybe ... I think it’s in the top five of high-quality players at the top of the draft in my career.”
Oh, come on.
In 2003, LeBron James went No. 1, Carmelo Anthony went No. 3, Chris Bosh went No. 4, and Dwyane Wade went No. 5.
Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey, VJ Edgecombe, and Tre Johnson might be quality players, but they won’t finish with nine NBA titles and 55 All-Star appearances.
This draft not only doesn’t compare to 2003, and isn’t even in the top five of Morey’s career — it probably isn’t as good as the first five drafts that followed 2003.
“We’re really comfortable at No. 3,” Morey said. “Historically, (in) the No. 3 pick, we have a good shot at getting a future franchise, very important player.”
This is exactly the sort of stuff a drafter who wants to trade the pick would say.
First, it assigns great value to the players who might be available.
Second, it implies that, to be persuaded to trade the pick, the Sixers would have to receive great value in return.
Anyone who has tracked the recent careers of Embiid and George knows that there is no argument about what the Sixers must do. They should draft the player with the highest ceiling available at No. 3. That player most likely will be Bailey, a 6-foot-8 wing with a slim frame, a sweet shot, a 7-foot wingspan, and solid bloodlines — both parents played college ball — and strong character.
He’s also two full seasons from being a starter on any team that hopes to reach the third round of the playoffs.
Why take him?
Because, even if they add this year’s Nico Batum, all the Sixers really have is the future.
Because Embiid and George have averaged about 50 games per season over the last four seasons. Because neither is as competent on defense as he used to be.
Because Embiid is 31 and George is 35, and they’re not only high-mileage players, their miles were hard miles.
Hopefully, for the Sixers, Morey sticks to the plan and plans for their future.
Hopefully, for the Sixers, he ignores the uncertainty of his own.