Daryl Morey has a significant percentage of regular season success with the Philadelphia 76ers, but that doesn’t mean he should be the one piloting the ship.
After a disappointing NBA season, teams usually tend to overreact or take responsibility for the wrong place.
The New Orleans Pelican fired executive David Griffin despite him. The Phoenix Suns fired head coach Mike Budenholzer, but he wasn’t the one who traded all of his draft picks for the unfortunate “Big 3.”
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers were another victim of the unfortunate season. Joel Embiid, Tyres Maxey, Paul George and the promised rookie Jared McCain were all injured early in the season, and the team couldn’t bounce back.
It’s easy to blame for injuries this season, and while that would be a legitimate excuse, the Sixers are no strangers to disappointing outcomes.
Embiid was the league MVP and was the top three player when he was healthy. He has also been surrounded by at least one All-Star ever since Molly took over in 2020. Tylece Maxie, James Harden and Ben Simmons all had excellent flashes of light in Philadelphia, but the suspicious moves by Molly resulted in a lack of results.
That said, it wasn’t all his fault. Simmons’ rejection of a wide-open layup in 2021 was not a result of inadequate roster construction, but a lack of personal confidence. While George’s injury this season wasn’t Morley’s fault, he committed $222 million to him over four seasons.
Even adding James Harden in exchange for Simmons made sense at the time, but the decision was aging and bumped into Molly.
Jared McCain was one of the best rookies in the draft class before he ripped Meniscus apart, and it’s safe to believe Molly chose him. But there were many mistakes. His rush, which put Embiid in tension last summer, has been under much scrutiny.
At the end of the Sixers’ 24-win season, Morey appears to be full of confidence.
“I’ll spend every time I wake up thinking of how to turn this team into the next season,” he promised. Inquirer’s Keith Pompei.
If the Oklahoma City Thunder cannot be communicated by falling outside the top six, then with a high draft pick, the Six should be able to add younger talent.
Can Sixers win the highlight with Embiid? They were unable to do it before and there is no guarantee that he will return to MVP format when he recovers from his injury.
Maxey, George, McCain, and the unnamed rookie are not a bad supporter cast, but is it best to cut all the connections with Embiid completely?
It’s not seen yet, but if it turns out Embiid can’t rely on him, Molly will have to pull the trigger quickly. He spent half a season waiting for Ben Simmons to return and rarely acted urgently. There’s no reason to consider firing him yet, but the ice should be worn thinly.