Philadelphia 76ers End of Season Report Cards

Season grades for 76ers’ personnel

Doc Rivers — D

This team has far too much talent to be the three seed. That is an indictment of the coach. The trio of Maxey, Harden, and Embiid is probably the best trio in the eastern conference, and yet, they are behind Milwaukee and Boston in the standings.

It is difficult to gauge how Rivers handles the locker room, but strictly judging the product on the court, he has had a rough year. As previously alluded to, Rivers essentially threw away games with his refusal to play Paul Reed over Montrezl Harrell. It was incredibly obvious that Harrell cannot play in the NBA anymore, yet he continued to get minutes. Benching Maxey was defensible because of how good Melton is and fits with the team, but Maxey is arguably the second most important piece to this team’s core. He should have been playing regardless.

Rivers not giving guys like Isaiah Joe and Charles Bassey chances is what led to worse, more expensive players being kept on the roster over them. The coach refuses to change and it has severely damaged this franchise’s chance to win a title now and in the future. Unless they win a title, Doc Rivers should be on the hot seat.

Daryl Morey — C+

The Melton trade was impeccable and Morey deserves his credit. Every move besides that has been mediocre at best. It is tough to determine if Morey had total control between moves that could have been because of the coach, ducking the tax, or determined by Harden after taking a pay cut. It is also fair to recognize that The Tobias Harris contract (that Morey did not sign) makes it nearly impossible for this team to be flexible. Regardless, Morey has done a relatively uninspiring job with how this team is constructed.