Daryl Morey makes case to prove he’s the right person to lead Sixers
CAMDEN, N.J.–After three straight exits in Round 2 of the playoffs, the Philadelphia 76ers made their first change when they moved on from coach Doc Rivers. Despite the regular season success, none of it was translating to the postseason.
In the same case as Rivers, President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey may be feeling his seat getting warm. Morey has done a great job of assembling the right pieces around Joel Embiid as he has understood that the team needs shooters around him, but again, despite the regular season success, it hasn’t translated to the playoffs.
With the season now over, Morey made his case to ownership to still be the one leading the Sixers to success.
“I tell ownership winning’s hard,” he said. “We have made progress, and frankly, I feel like I’m the best guy to lead the 76ers and ownership believes that and then if we don’t advance, I understand that if something happens from there.”
Morey, along with Rivers, was brought to the Sixers to help them go deep into the playoffs. The franchise hasn’t reached the Eastern Conference finals since 2001 and they have had some talented rosters in the past, but they haven’t been able to get past Round 2.
“I think number one, it is a collective effort, but I was brought in for a reason just like coach Rivers was so I would put it on myself first,” Morey stated. “I don’t accept that we haven’t advanced. I do think we’re a much better team than we were the prior year or the year before that.”
The Sixers have surrounded Embiid with the likes of James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris, PJ Tucker, and others. This is a very talented roster that can go deep into the postseason. They just have to find a way to get over the hump.
“We’ve sort of an arbitrary line that I understand,” Morey continued. “I’m not rejecting that. Obviously, to win the championship, you have to make it farther than the second round. So I understand the math of that, but I would say there’s been a lot of progress within that in that Maxey taking big steps forward. Joel progressing to the MVP. I think James Harden was better than the second-best player we’ve had. This year, we lost to a heck of a team in the Boston Celtics who have a very good chance to go on to win the championship.”
With that being said, the goal is to win a championship and not to just make it past the second round. Morey and co. understand that and this will be another important summer for this front office group to be ready for the next opportunity.
“So progress is there, in my opinion, and if we, I promise you next year if we make the conference finals, but fall short, others will be writing how we just never had the finals,” Morey finished. “Look our goal is to win the championship. It’s not to make the second round or third round, so I would understand that as well.”
