Sixers Trade of Harden Should Put Morey on “Hot Seat”
The Sixers finally got rid of James Harden. As far as I can tell, that was the point of trading him to the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday. The Sixers received a handful of players to make the trade work under NBA salary cap rules. PJ Tucker, who never did much in a Sixers uniform, and Filip Petrusev were shipped to LA with Harden as part of the deal that also brought several draft picks to Philadelphia.
Robert Covington is the only player coming to the Sixers that I’m familiar with because he previously played for the team. Nic Batum and Marcus Morris are each 34 years old and playing minimal minutes or no minutes. Morris is listed as “out” by ESPN. Kenyon Martin, Jr., statistically had his best year last season with Houston and is the only guy in the trade coming from L.A. under 30 years of age at 22.
Covington was a solid player for several years with the Sixers, but he last played for them in the 2018-19 season. He’s now in his 10th NBA season, and his numbers suggest he’s now a role player at best.
NBA analysts are already talking about how this deal sets the Sixers up to make big moves in the free agency market . . . next summer. ESPN NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski couched the trade as the Sixers getting expiring contracts and draft picks. He left open the possibility that the Sixers make a move around the trade deadline to become a contender for the championship this season.
Aren’t the Sixers already supposed to be a contender? Are we throwing away another year of Joel Embiid’s prime?
I have zero faith in Sixers general manager Daryl Morey turning this deal into something that makes the Sixers serious contenders. He’s the one who brought Harden here, trading away another problem child, Ben Simmons. The truth is that Harden stunk it up in the playoffs for the Sixers the last two seasons.
In fact, I’m not sure what Morey has done to improve this team. Apparently, I’m not alone. On Tuesday, the Marks and Reese Show on 610 WIP talked about Sixers owner Josh Harris reportedly getting on the phone and making this trade.
I understand Harden had to go. I even recognize that this mess goes back to before Morey ever got to Philadelphia. Reportedly, the team did a sign-and-trade deal with Jimmy Butler because Ben Simmons didn’t want to play with the guy, planting the seeds of the last two or three seasons. Simmons is afraid to shoot the basketball – kind of an important thing to do in the NBA. If the Sixers had told Ben to shut up or just waived him and kept Butler, I’m pretty confident the team would have at least made it out of the second round of the playoffs in recent years.
Still, Morey has failed to improve the situation and trading Harden for eventual cap space and draft picks isn’t going to help the Sixers this year either. The best thing that can be said about the trade is that it gives Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey the chance to run the team with Harden gone.
For my money, Morey gets until the trade deadline to turn this Harden trade into something that makes the Sixers title contenders. And, if he does make a “blockbuster” deal this year, Josh Harris shouldn’t tolerate excuses that the team needed time to jell if they bow out of the playoffs early.
Short of an Eastern Conference Finals appearance by the Sixers, Morey is the next guy who needs to go. The Sixers are drifting aimlessly through the career of a generational talent in Embiid with no end in sight.
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