With a roster led by All-Star center Joel Embiid, the Philadelphia 76ers look much different on paper than the undersized Houston Rockets.
That doesn’t seem to bother new GM Daryl Morey, though.
At his introduction Monday as the new president of basketball operations with the Sixers, Morey was asked about the unique playing style of his recent teams in Houston and how that might mesh with Philadelphia’s more traditional roster. Here’s how the veteran GM responded:
We played the way we played in Houston because that was the best way to utilize the talent we had in Houston. Doc [Rivers] knows how to win more than me, frankly, he’s one ring ahead of me. He’s going to figure out how best to use it. It doesn’t have to be a three, it can be in transition. …
The goal is not to shoot 3-pointers. The goal is to win. You can score on offense in a whole bunch of different ways. Joel happens to be one of the most efficient post-up players in the league. I used to get the question in Houston, which was like, ‘What would you do if you had Shaq?’ My answer was, ‘I would give Shaq the ball 100 times a game.’ Joel is a talent on both ends.
Darryl Morey said volume of 3’s they shot in Houston was because it suited their roster. Sees Embiid as dominant post player. He said if he had had Shaq he would have fed him in the post 100 times a game. It will be interesting to see how Embiid’s game evolves w/ new leadership
— Dei Lynam (@dlynamCSN) November 2, 2020
To Morey’s point, over his 13 years as GM with the Rockets, many of his earlier teams featured an All-Star center in the form of Yao Ming or Dwight Howard. The exaggerated switch to “small ball” came largely after the acquisition of slashing guard Russell Westbrook, who needed more floor spacing to open up additional room to drive to the basket.
As a result, it would likely be a mistake to assume that Houston will fully transition away from smaller lineups now that Morey is gone, or to assume that the Sixers will adopt a similar playing style to the 2019-20 Rockets. In both cases, the playing style — at least in part — should reflect the talent of the existing roster and the goal of maximizing it.
In Morey’s 13 years as GM from 2007-08 through 2019-20, Houston ranked No. 2 in the entire NBA in total wins, and they have the league’s longest active streak of eight consecutive playoff berths. He was voted by his peers as the NBA’s Executive of the Year in 2018. Rafael Stone, who was previously the No. 2 executive in Houston’s basketball operations department, is replacing Morey as GM with the Rockets.
[lawrence-related id=39791,39646]