When the Philadelphia 76ers hired Daryl Morey as their new President of Basketball Operations came as a surprise to plenty of people. After stepping down from the Houston Rockets, he cited that he wanted to spend time with his family and have more time around his kids.
That lasted all of about three weeks before the Sixers quickly brought him in to run their basketball operations department and he signed a 5-year deal over the weekend to lock him in for the long-term.
“That was my plan,” laughed Morey. “My kids are giving me a lot of crap about it. I’m a pretty competitive guy, but that was my plan. My wife was actually urging me that, but Elton (Brand) and Doc (Rivers) and Josh (Harris) were relentless. Frankly, the more you look at what Elton has put together on this roster with Joel (Embiid) and Ben (Simmons) as the headliners, but with great players. Al (Horford), Josh (Richardson), Tobias (Harris), and some of the younger players. The more you dig into the players that are here, the more you get excited about what this team can do.”
Morey’s presence in Philadelphia brings a lot of questions. Why go to the Sixers? They don’t have a roster made for “Morey Ball” which is known for running and gunning and putting up a slew of 3-pointers. The Rockets started former Sixers small forward Robert Covington at center during their 2020 playoff run, after all. Philadelphia also don’t have a guy like James Harden who can take a game over single handily.
So, again, why the Sixers?
“The fact that they want out to get Doc who I think is one of the premier, if not the premier, coach in the NBA,” Morey added. “I saw first-hand him putting together a team that won a title in Boston and there aren’t many opportunities where you get a chance to win and I felt that this was the right fit.”
On top of that, Morey also had a ton of praise for Embiid. The big man is one of the premier talents in the league regardless of position and he is an undeniable star in the NBA.
“Joel is a dominant, dominant big man,” Morey gushed. “I’m excited to get back to that. I worked with Yao Ming, we got very close in Houston with Yao Ming and I think we can go all the way with Joel.”
Morey: “I think we can go all the way with Joel”
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) November 2, 2020
Embiid did average 30 points and 12.3 rebounds in the playoffs against the Boston Celtics. However, the team was swept in Round 1 due to a variety of reasons–one of them being Simmons being out for the series–but it brought up whether Philadelphia could win with Embiid being the main guy.
Morey shut that talk down rather quickly.
“It doesn’t take much to look at when Joel is on the floor and healthy and he’s been in here twice a day for quite a while, he’s very focused and motivated,” he added. “This is an unbelievable defensive team and the fact that he’s an extremely good offensive player, Joel is the kind of player you win championships with if you look back at throughout NBA history.”
Morey then added that Embiid has been the one who has been pushing the front office to improve the roster around him and Simmons.
“He wants to win a championship, I’ve talked to him, Elton obviously knows him well, Doc’s talked to him,” the new president added. “He wants to win a championship and I think he’s a smart player who knows you only have so many opportunities. He pushed everyone to improve the organization, improve the roster, and frankly, I’m excited to go on this journey with Joel and Ben going forward.” [lawrence-related id=38781,38766,38782]