Report: 76ers could pursue Morey, but he’s unlikely to be interested

Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer says Morey could be targeted by the Sixers for a head of basketball operations role.

Two years ago, the Philadelphia 76ers attempted to pry GM Daryl Morey away from the Houston Rockets. In 2020, might they try again?

After being swept in the first round of the 2020 playoffs, the Sixers appear open to making major moves. They let go of head coach Brett Brown after the season, and according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, they’re also inquiring about potentially hiring a president of basketball operations as part of a front office restructuring.

Per Pompey, the Sixers are again expected to check in with Morey. However, his source does not believe that Morey would have interest.

Pompey writes:

A source also believes the Sixers will attempt to inquire about Houston GM Morey and Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard. The source, however, believes it’s unlikely that they would be interested.

It wouldn’t make that much sense to go after any of those types of candidates, knowing they won’t come to Philadelphia. Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta said Morey’s job is safe following the team’s second-round playoff elimination. He signed a five-year contract extension in March 2019.

Since Morey took the full-time GM position in Houston prior to the 2007-08 season, the Rockets have not had a single losing season, and they now have NBA’s longest streak at eight consecutive playoff appearances. His peers named him as the NBA’s Executive of the Year in 2018.

At the moment, Morey is under a multi-year contrtact and appears happy in Houston. While the job has its share of challenges, such as an aging roster and no available salary cap room, he is building around an All-Star backcourt of recent MVPs James Harden and Russell Westbrook.

It would be quite understandable if Morey doesn’t want to leave that duo for a team in Philadelphia that didn’t win a single playoff game in 2020. The Rockets have won at least one playoff series in four straight seasons, which is the longest such streak in the Western Conference.

With his owner’s strong backing, Morey is busy at the moment, anyway, as he leads the coaching search to replace Mike D’Antoni. D’Antoni, incidentally, could be a candidate to replace Brown in Philadelphia.

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