Sending a real earthquake to the NBA planet, the transfer of James Harden to the Sixers last week ended the Ben Simmons saga at the Sixers. A saga of several months, made up of countless episodes and in which Daryl Morey obviously played a major role. A look back at the cheeky strategy of the Philly boss to obtain the counterpart sought from the start: an All-Star of Harden’s caliber.
Patience is the mother of all virtues
It’s June 20, 2021. The Sixers just lost Game 7 to the Hawks at home, and Ben Simmons’ ratings may have never been lower. His pass for Matisse Thybulle when he had a dunk all done looped on the screens, and the statements of Joel Embiid and Doc Rivers concerning him made the headlines. At this point, one wonders if Simmons will play an additional game in the jersey of Philly or if this chain of events marks the end of his duo with Embiid. As you know, it is the second scenario that will take place. The end of a duo, but the beginning of a saga of several months marked by Ben Simmons’ transfer request and then his holdoutwhich have their source not only in these events of June 20 but also in Daryl Morey’s desire to exchange the Australian for James Harden at the start of 2021, when the latter was in the process of divorce from the Rockets. .
All the while, from June 2021 to February 2022, Daryl Morey hasn’t budged. From the start, the Sixers boss announced that he wanted an All-Star caliber player in exchange for Ben Simmons, regardless of the latter’s rating.. While everyone kept in mind the fiasco of the Playoffs, good old Daryl did not hesitate to recall the status of the Boomer: triple All-Star, third All-NBA team in 2020 and runner-up to Rudy Gobert in the race for the DPOY last year. Two visions that have long prevented any real progress in negotiations with various franchises interested in Simmons’ profile. Daryl knew his tenure at the helm of the Sixers would one day be defined by how he handled the Boomer file, so he immediately wanted to set the rules of the game. And he has always remained faithful to these rules despite the very uncomfortable side of the situation as well as the increasingly strong pressure surrounding it. Ben Simmons who skips training camp with four years left on his contract, the fines imposed on the Australian, the explosive declarations of Joel Embiid in response to Simmons, Doc Rivers who excludes the latter from training for a few days after his “return” with the group, the Boomer’s mental health comes into play… so many elements that could have pushed Daryl Morey to make a trade in order to put an end to this big mess and allow the Sixers franchise to find a little more serenity. Many managers would no doubt have cracked down on a slightly lower consideration than requested, but not Daryl. “Malcolm Brogdon and Caris LeVert vs. Ben Simmons? No thanks. CJ McCollum? He’s a good player but I prefer Damian Lillard.”. We know the character. Hard in business and particularly ballsy (just review the WTF counterparties he could sometimes ask for in negotiations), Morey is one of those guys who has no problem going through big periods of turbulence to get this that they want. And that’s exactly what he did, waiting again and again for the Opportunity with a capital O to transfer Ben Simmons.
James Harden, an opportunity not to be missed
This opportunity, therefore, fell at the NBA Trade Deadline 2022. As the situation at the Nets deteriorated day by day, a certain James Harden was heading more and more for the exit door, which we had to hard to imagine just a year after arriving in Brooklyn. But Daryl Morey’s imagination knows no bounds. He is well placed to know that everything is possible in the NBA, that situations can unblock as a season progresses. He also knew that waiting could lessen the impact of the Playoff fiasco on Ben Simmons’ rating, because time has that power to heal and change things. It is specifically for these reasons that he never wanted to rush into the Ben Simmons file. And once the opportunity was finally in front of him, he jumped in with both feet. “Stay on that fuckin’ phone.” We’ll wrap this up! » outright slammed Morey at Brooklyn GM Sean Marks (via ESPN) in the last hours before the deadline last Thursday. Daryl had waited enough, it was time to end the saga, he who didn’t want to miss a reunion with his darling James Harden after a good decade together in Houston. At the same time, how to resist? We can say a lot of things about the Barbu (and that’s what we’re going to do just below) but it’s a deal that he had to achieve in the context. And for good reason, despite all the patience demonstrated in this process, Morey was well aware of one thing: it’s not every day that a superstar becomes available on the market but above all, Joel Embiid is having the best season of his career and is in full swing prime. Wasting a year of this prime when we know the history of the guy in terms of injury, it would probably have gone badly on the side of Philly. Because it is only with a Joel at this level and a star worthy of the name by his side that the Sixers can get their first NBA title since 1983. So here we are. James Harden x Joel Embiid, a champion ring in the sights, let’s go!
Per Daryl Morey’s Instagram, James Harden has arrived pic.twitter.com/Jn71mJ5Ch3
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) February 12, 2022
An NBA title or nothing
As we said above, this transfer will define the mandate of Daryl Morey at the Sixers. At the time of these lines, Daryl can puff out his chest because his strategy to win a star in exchange for Ben Simmons – a strategy disputed by many – has paid off. He took advantage of the galleys in Brooklyn to get what he wanted and the Sixers are now in a position to play for the title with Embiid, Harden, Tyrese Maxey and Co. And if title there is this season or in the next two-three years, Morey could well have a statue in his honor in front of the Wells Fargo Center. Now, we can still have doubts following this blockbuster deal and on Harden’s ability to represent the piece that can help Joel Embiid take the Sixers to the top. Without getting into Stephen A. Smith mode, who bluntly threw a “this could be the worst day of Daryl Morey’s career” last Thursday, we recall that Harden had a rather mediocre first half of the season with the Nets. Raw stats are still pretty heavy (22 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists) but efficiency is plummeting (41% shooting, 33% 3-pointers, 5 turnovers per game), and his body is starting to show signs of weakness. Has Harden’s decline really started or will he get his mojo back now that he’s in Philly? It’s no secret that Ramesse has a real love affair with strip clubs and if we are to believe the latest article inESPN, he does not yet want to line up at this level, he who would have chained night outings when he was on a road trip with the Nets in early February. So even if the name of James Harden weighs in the game, it is also on that Daryl Morey bets. And he knows it very well after having built his Rockets around the Barbu between 2012 and 2020.
These doubts may also concern did it between Harden and Joel Embiid. Two stars certainly, but Joel is a pivot to whom we give above all the ball with his back to the basket so that he destroys everything in his path, not a pivot like Clint Capela who is there to simply conclude the alley-oops sent by Ramesse . The latter needs the pump and doesn’t do much when he doesn’t have it, so one wonders how he and Joel are going to be able to maximize their respective talents. We’re not saying they’re incompatible huh, both have enough skills to run the machine, but it’s clear that Embiid represents a different profile than the interiors Harden used to play with for so many years. seasons. And the Bearded is not the most adaptable player in the world. Finally, how not to talk about the contractual issue. We discussed the subject recently, the Bearded Man can earn up to 270 million dollars over the next five years, with an annual salary of… 60 million on the last when James goes on his 38 brooms. Translation, in 2026-27, the Sixers could find themselves with a real deal contract, a prospect that puts even more pressure around the franchise in the short term. All that to say that Philly probably has a two- or three-year window to win an NBA title, and anything else will likely be considered a failure, both for Harden and Morey.
Daryl Morey pulled it off. He waited, he resisted outside pressure and that of the Ben Simmons camp, to find himself with a James Harden in the bag while many called him crazy when he said he wanted an All-Star. But in the end, when we zoom out, this move will only really be validated if the Sixers manage to go all the way one day. And that is not won.
