For Morey’s next trick ... making people believe Simmons is a superstar
Trading for Harden should still be in works
It was Brett Brown’s fault, so he had to go. It was Elton Brand’s fault, so his role had to be diminished.
It was Al Horford’s fault, so he had to be traded.
It was Josh Richardson’s fault, so he had to be replaced with better shooters.
It was always somebody else’s fault for why the Sixers’ rebuilding process failed, why they could never reach a third playoff round, why they haven’t been champions since 1983, why Daryl Morey was recruited to make it right.
What it wasn’t, Morey made it clear within five minutes of his postdraft video chat Thursday morning, was Joel Embiid’s fault.
And what it wasn’t, Morey indicated, was Ben Simmons’ fault.
Never is, not around there.
“It’s really important that we have two young superstars in their prime,” Morey said, “and you want to put around them guys they can build with.”
Morey has been acquiring and managing NBA personnel since 2006, hiring James Harden, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook. So he knows what a superstar looks like. He must also know that Simmons is not a superstar, but a talented player who has won two playoff series and has represented the Sixers in one more All-Star Game than Steve Mix.
He knows the difference between a superstar and an elite defensive rebounder, entry-pass stylist and cut-above around-the-basket finisher, all accurate descriptions of Simmons. The 76ers have had superstars. Julius Erving was a superstar. Allen Iverson. Wilt Chamberlain. Charles Barkley. Josh Harris’ team is close to having one in Embiid, who, skill for skill, is the best player the franchise has ever employed. But Embiid needs two fully healthy seasons before making that cut.
Yet there was Morey Thursday touting a shooting-resistant point guard as a superstar. So, the question: What’s the big idea?
Morey is smart enough not to insult Philadelphia sports fans two minutes after arriving in Camden, although Sixers’ supporters have been known to be comically gullible in recent years. He’s also business savvy enough to realize that if a player is about to weave into the trade market, it’s best not to openly catalog his flaws.
The Rockets, Morey’s former employers, will soon trade Harden, a Superstar, capital S. They probably will do that business with Brooklyn, where Harden would prefer to team with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to try to win the championship that his hundreds of millions of dollars can’t buy. But the Sixers could dangle Simmons and his enchanting skills, and Morey does know how to bypass the switchboard at his old Houston workplace.
Sixers fans should be hoping that Morey is practicing good basketball business, lumping Simmons into the same Sixers category as Dr. J, disrespectful as that is to Dr. J. If so, it would continue a positive trend.
As recently as three days ago, it was widely believed that the Sixers would be stuck for a while with Al Horford, a bad frontcourt fit with Embiid. Morey, though, was able to offload him to Oklahoma City in a typically complex deal for veteran shooter Danny Green. With that, the Sixers saved $65 million-ish, cash that could fluff a new deal for Harden.
If that’s what Morey has planned, then his early lead in the NBA Executive of the Year race will grow. However, his behavior and his words indicate that he is sincere about trying to win with Embiid and Simmons. And that has proven to be a flawed concept. His first-round pick, Tyrese Maxey, is said to be a capable shooter, as is second-round choice Isaiah Joe. Green can shoot. And Morey flipped Josh Richardson, an acceptable shooter, for Seth Curry, a special one.
“The theme of the night was trying to improve the fit,” Morey said. “We went in with a goal of increasing our flexibility. The first move (exchanging Horford for Green) allowed us to make the second move with Seth. Having a truly gravity-elite shooter really changes the dynamic for Ben and Joel. And those who have watched the Sixers up close and personal longer than me know that when Joel and Ben had that, it’s actually insane how well those lineups and those teams played.”
It was insane how the 1983 team played, going 4-5-4 in the tournament before Harold Katz torched an arm-length cigar. The Sixers were much better with gravity-creators JJ Redick, Ersan Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli than they were with Horford, Richardson and Tobias Harris. But not much better. There is a reason for that: To win an NBA championship, in the 1980s and even moreso in the 2020s, teams need multiple superstars. That was Brand’s plan when he tried to fit Embiid with Jimmy Butler, who made Simmons’ refusal to shoot an issue in the playoffs, then soon was dismissed.
Because of Morey, the Sixers are better this week than last. They will grow even more beginning Friday, with the president all but promising to be active in the free-agent market. But if Morey could acquire Harden for Simmons, the resulting gravity will shove the Sixers close to a championship.
That should be what Morey is plotting by calling Simmons a superstar. If not, the Sixers can run that broken play again and again and blame everybody else when it fails.