Look for Morey to package 23rd pick in move to toughen up Sixers
With an achievement gap to close, some personnel decisions to consider and one low-value firstround choice to use however it best works, Daryl Morey will head into his second NBA Draft with the Sixers Thursday night.
Already having been willing to hand the No. 23 overall pick off to Brooklyn in the February trade for James Harden, the Nets used an option to defer to flip it back to the Sixers. Known for his creativity and aggression, it is fully expected that Morey will somehow wrap the pick in a package with other players in a play for the present, not the future.
If that doesn’t happen, the Sixers’ basketball-operations president is expected to enjoy some interesting choices should he be on the clock at No. 23. Among them could be E.J. Liddell, a power forward who played three seasons at Ohio State and has been extremely under-valued by most draft handicappers. Perfect to complete a front line including Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris, the 6-7 Liddell plays with the kind of edge Embiid — among others — publicly requested the Sixers add at the end of another disappointing postseason.
Liddell, however, is only 21, and the Sixers are widely known to be readying a three-year deal for Miami Heat instigator P.J. Tucker, 37, when free agency begins June 30. To free cap space for that move, the Sixers likely would have to include the No. 23 pick in a deal involving NBAready players. Matisse Thybulle has been named in salary-freeing trade rumors, as have Danny Green, Furkan Korkmaz and Shake Milton.
“We’ve had a few tough guys since I’ve been here,” Embiid said during the postseason. “When you have size and toughness, that goes a long way. You look at someone like P.J. Tucker. He’s a great player but it’s not about him knocking down shots. It’s about what he does. He
plays with so much energy.
“Since I’ve been here, I’d be lying if I said that we’ve had, you know, those type of guys. It’s nothing against what we have. It’s just the truth. We’ve never had P.J. Tucker.”
Should the draft-night swirl not open trade options, Morey can look toward to — among others — 6-8 swingman Kendall Brown, who was on the Big 12 All-Freshman team in his one season at Baylor. Also, 6-4 guard Jaden Hardy, 19, who skipped college basketball, opting for a year in the G-League has been a known focus of Sixers scouts.
While not likely that the No. 23 pick will help them finally move
past the second round of the postseason, the Sixers did find great value in developing All-Star Tyrese Maxey with the No. 21 pick in the 2020 draft. Also, it would be unlikely that Morey could come up much emptier than he did last year, when he invested the No. 28 pick on Jaden Springer, a guard who didn’t always start in his one season at Tennessee then gave the Sixers two games and two total points in the regular-season as a rookie.
Since the Sixers’ second-round dismissal by the Heat, Doc Rivers has been steadfast in his belief that they are heading the right way and may be missing only the right complements
to Embiid.
“Obviously, we need to make sure we support him,” the coach said, “and giving him more help.”
The offseason is just beginning and the Sixers will have opportunities to improve. How many will likely depend on Morey’s creativity and — Thursday at least — talent evaluation. They do not own a second-round draft choice.
“We are going to see where this journey takes us,” Morey said at the end of the season. “But we feel very good about where it is going to take us, and that’s going to be where we have a very good chance to win the title.”