PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers made the big move on Halloween to send James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Nic Batum, Marcus Morris Sr., Robert Covington, KJ Martin and draft picks.
President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey waited for the right deal to come along for Harden, and he ended up getting what he wanted.
Batum has been a starter since he arrived in Philadelphia. He has been an important piece for the Sixers on both ends. Not only is he an elite shooter for this group, but he is also a guy who can make entry passes to Joel Embiid and his high basketball IQ plays a big factor for the Sixers.
“Tremendous,” Morey said. “Like Nic Batum, I mean, we hoped he could come and contribute, until you have a player it’s hard to know, but he’s just been the perfect piece and able to get the ball off quick and shooting, defensively, a glue guy, good passer to Joel been great.”
While Batum has been terrific, the Sixers have also received terrific defensive play out of Covington. His ability to get deflections has made him more than solid on that end of the floor. He makes a big difference for the Sixers with the second group.
“Then Robert has given us some of the best minutes of his career when he’s been in as well,” Morey added. “I’ve worked with Robert before. So he clearly was, like, down in the past — in his recent past and, you know, he feels like sort of unleashed so it’s been really exciting.”
There is always the possibility Morey flips the assets he has received to upgrade the roster as he sees fit, but it’s obvious Batum, Covington and, recently, Morris have shown they can contribute to winning basketball for Philadelphia.
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