Suffice to say that Philadelphia 76ers team president Daryl Morey is a hard man to please. It is either that, or he is blatantly hating at this point (not that anyone in Philly would be mad about it) after he subtly took a shot at James Harden, who was traded before the deadline to the Cavaliers for Darius Garland.
Morey appeared before the media shortly after the trade deadline lapsed, saying on record that he believes that the 76ers are in the mix for contention in the East, and that “there weren’t any needle movers” in his opinion with respect to the moves which the other top teams pulled off. That is very clearly a disregard of what Cleveland did in acquiring the 11-time All-Star.
Morey is speaking his truth as an executive, but given the history between the 76ers head and Harden, it would be disingenuous to say that he was merely excusing the team from not making a move to improve the roster this season. His dismissive tone had a lot of package surrounding it, and if we are being frank, there is more credence to his statement than people would like to admit.
Daryl Morey takes a jab at former 76ers star James Harden
Cleveland is currently sitting right above Philadelphia for the fifth seed in the East, but it definitely felt like their move to acquire Harden — at the expense of someone like Garland, who is a decade younger — was not a clear-cut upgrade. Sure, there are some things he can still do at a higher level than his younger counterpart, but there are likewise concessions with having him in the fold.
The Cavs largely trade for him as Donovan Mitchell reportedly demanded it, but from an on-court perspective, just how much is Harden going to add to their team that Garland was not capable of? Sure, this has the potential to be a swing move that elevates their floor in the playoffs, but to deem him as a ceiling-raiser at this point in his career would be an overestimation.
As the 76ers know fully well, this man is probably the most mercurial star ever in the playoff stage. At his near-peak, he was perfect capable of dropping 10 points after scoring 48 in the previous game. And god knows how his lack of consistency can become detrimental now that he is no longer the player he once was.
The truth is Daryl Morey was simply being cognizant of the fact that the Cavaliers really only wantd to yield to what their superstar desired. At this point in his career, there is no drastic improvement by adding James Harden, and the 76ers know that better than most.