CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers convened for media day on Monday at their practice facility in Camden, New Jersey, looking to begin another chase toward a title for the 2023-24 season. They will face tough competition in the Eastern Conference as others have loaded up.
The Milwaukee Bucks have added Damian Lillard to join Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton while the Boston Celtics added Jrue Holiday to join Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Meanwhile, the Sixers added Patrick Beverley, Mo Bamba, Danny Green, and Kelly Oubre Jr. They are solid pieces who add to Philadelphia’s bench, but there is also a big James Harden problem. The future Hall of Famer wants out of Philadelphia.
President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey addressed Philadelphia’s lack of big moves as he looked to help Joel Embiid win a title.
“I think we have a great, great up-and-coming player in (Tyrese) Maxey,” said Morey. “We have a great roster. Obviously, Joel is a very smart player. Those teams that added players also had to subtract significant players. Look, I mean, things need to play out.”
Morey is right. Things do have to play out in the East. Maybe Lillard doesn’t work with Antetokounmpo and Middleton. Maybe Holiday isn’t a great fit in Boston. There is also always the injury factor. Also, if the Sixers can get Harden to get back on the floor with them, then that is an obvious big help.
“We feel strongly we have a winning team,” Morey continued. “We have a team that can win and make a lot of noise in the playoffs. I understand we need to prove that, but teams emerge. You go into last season and say, Miami to Denver they were not even in the top three of teams that thought could make the finals so look, we have a lot of questions to answer. Obviously, James is the big one. Coach (Nick Nurse) talked about battles at different positions, but we feel like we have the pieces.”
As far as Harden is concerned, it’s obvious that he still wants out as he did not attend media day on Monday, but Morey and the Sixers expect him to be at training camp and be a part of the team moving forward.
“We communicate,” Morey finished. “He’s on the roster. We’re excited for him to help us if he chooses that. We’ve told them we expect him to be here and we’re handling it.”
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