Sixers extend team president through 2028
Daryl Morey wouldn't give James Harden a contract extension this year. After standing firm, Morey got an extension of his own.
Morey left the Houston Rockets to join the Philadelphia 76ers in the fall of 2020 as their president of basketball operations. Since then, the team has had success, twice reaching the second round of the playoffs and finishing with the Eastern Conference's best record in 2020-21. He also saw Joel Embiid win his first MVP award last season.
He's also navigated some rocky situations. A year into the job, Ben Simmons announced he'd never play for the Sixers again, and after a lengthy holdout, Morey managed to flip Simmons and the three-plus years remaining on his max contract for James Harden.
This summer, Harden decided he wanted out, after he claimed Morey and Philadelphia reneged on a promised max contract. Morey waited him out as well, getting a package of draft picks, role players and expiring contracts from the LA Clippers for the disgruntled star.
Morey deserves credit for a variety of moves, including drafting rising star Tyrese Maxey with the No. 21 pick in his first draft with the 76ers in 2020, along with valuable backup Paul Reed at pick No. 58. He's been adept at getting the Sixers out of expensive contracts, dumping big-money deals for Simmons, Harden, Al Horford and P.J. Tucker over the last three years, leaving them with potentially $50 million in salary cap space next summer.
The negatives? Personal relationships. It's not a great sign that two different stars were so alienated by the organization that they chose to sit out and pay fines rather than play. That said, this is also Ben Simmons and James Harden we are talking about.
Morey also cost the team second-round picks after the NBA concluded that Philadelphia had tampered during free agency in the summer of 2022. Perhaps the biggest knock on the Morey era is the lack of playoff success despite having Embiid and a star-studded roster.
But ownership is happy with Morey, and has consistently stood behind their team president during his player conflicts. He's locked in for four more seasons after this one, and after this season, the team will be entirely players Morey has acquired, aside from Embiid.
The Sixers have committed to Morey. Now he's got to commit to building an NBA champion.
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