Former Rockets GM Daryl Morey in advanced talks to join 76ers

Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Morey is in advanced talks with Philadelphia regarding a deal to oversee basketball operations there.

Two weeks ago, when Rockets GM Daryl Morey announced his intent to leave Houston, owner Tilman Fertitta quickly suggested that Morey’s next job could be with an NBA team in the Eastern Conference.

It didn’t take very long.

Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Morey is in advanced talks with the Philadelphia 76ers regarding a deal to oversee their basketball operations department. Morey remains under contract with the Rockets until Sunday, Nov. 1, so any deal likely won’t be finalized until next week.

Two years ago, the Sixers reportedly attempted to lure Morey away from the Rockets, but they were rebuffed in their efforts.

However, with Morey’s youngest child having graduated from high school in 2020, this year could be a more opportune time to make a move.

It can also be argued that with superstars James Harden and Russell Westbrook now 31 years old, Houston’s window as a title contender isn’t nearly as open now as it was two years ago. By contrast, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons are 26 and 24 years old, respectively, for the Sixers.

Whatever the case, the deal certainly won’t come as a big surprise to the Rockets. Two weeks ago, here’s what Fertitta said of Morey:

He had always said, ‘I’m not going to be here forever,’ and ‘At some point, I might want to go back to the East Coast. I didn’t think it was going to happen. I knew that this was that year, but Daryl’s been here [almost] 15 years. I was surprised, but yet I remembered the previous conversations. He’s reminded me of that a few times.

I’m going to miss Daryl. But I’m also going to pick up the phone and call his ass if I’m worried about doing something or not. If he ends up back in the league, I think that he’ll probably end up in the East Coast. That’s where he always told me he wanted to end up, so I think that he’ll tell me anything, because he knows that he won’t have to face me until the Finals. We would both trade information to get there and play each other, wouldn’t we?

Per ESPN, Morey replied: “I would love to. Absolutely.” (Commence trade machine proposals involving the 76ers and Rockets.)

Morey is being replaced in Houston by his latest No. 2 executive, Rafael Stone, and that working relationship could perhaps bolster trade discussions. (In February, Morey completed a blockbuster deal bringing Robert Covington to the Rockets by primarily working with Minnesota’s Gersson Rosas, who was in Stone’s position in earlier seasons.)

In Morey’s 13 years at the helm in Houston, the Rockets ranked No. 2 in the entire NBA in total wins, and they have the league’s longest active playoff streak at eight consecutive years.

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