Is Daryl Morey the Genius GM Everyone Thinks He Is?
When Daryl Morey came to the Philadelphia 76ers in 2020, he was supposed to be the experienced veteran who could clean up the continued dysfunction.
He was a reputable GM who constructed the Houston Rockets rosters that appeared in the NBA Playoffs eight consecutive times from 2013-2020 and advanced to the Western Conference Finals twice.
Only the San Antonio Spurs won more games than the Rockets during Morey’s 13-year tenure in Houston.
However, the Sixers have unceremoniously lost in the second round of the playoffs in all three seasons under the highly-regarded basketball executive.
Andrew Salciunas posed a legitimate question in the scrutiny of Darly Morey and what Sixers fans need to figure out.
Can Philadelphia decide “whether or not he’s the genius that he’s portrayed as” in league circles?
Matt Breen Speaks on Daryl Morey
Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer joined the discussion about the looming offseason decisions for Daryl Morey and the Sixers.
Tobias Harris and his $39.27 million cap hit will probably remain in Philadelphia in 2023-24. James Harden will most likely come back with an exorbitant salary.
Andrew and Jamie Lynch pointed to an uninspiring strategy from Morey and the Sixers of running back the same roster that just failed to get past the Boston Celtics in the second round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs.
Breen pointed out that Morey still has the opportunity to make a lot of decisions that could change the offseason narrative.
“Is there a way to get Fred VanVleet here? To me, that would be the move.” -Matt Breen
The long-time Toronto Raptors guard would certainly be a fit in Philadelphia with new head coach Nick Nurse.
A move to bring in VanVleet would involve the creativity that could change the perception of Morey’s tenure with the Sixers.
Will Morey Bring the 76ers to the NBA Finals?
Morey shrewdly acquired Harden in 2012 to become the centerpiece of the Rockets.
The former Oklahoma City Thunder sixth man hadn’t fully blossomed into an NBA star yet. He never led the Rockets to the NBA Finals, and Morey never joined the allure of NBA history as a championship executive.
Breen pointed out that the lack of a ring isn’t the only way to define Morey’s track record. However, there’s a very clear bottom line that Sixers fans need to see.
“It’s not fair to judge him (by): How many Larry O’Brien Trophies does he have? But it is fair to say the Sixers have to get past the second round.” -Matt Breen
After the way things have unfolded in Philadelphia over the past decade, the fan base will look at Morey based on objective results. Can he figure out a way to make the 2023 offseason a turning point that somehow breaks the purgatory of second-round losses?
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14 Times James Harden Looked Awful in the Playoffs
Rookie Season Vs The Lakers
In fairness to Harden, he was a rookie, and coming off the bench. So this was one you can absolutely forgive him for. He scored just 2 points off the bench, going 1 for 3 in an elimination game vs the Lakers that year. He did get a couple of steals, and rebounds. No one expects a rookie to step up in an elimination game. And he wasn’t even the great 6th man he would grow into with the Thunder yet. So he gets a pass for this one.
(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
NBA Finals vs Heat in 2012
Two years later, he was the guy though. Yes, he was on a team with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. But he was the 3rd guy on the team, and they were relying on him to score. Too bad in three games he couldn’t even get to double digits. After averaging 16.8 pts per game in the regular season, it fell to about 12 in the Finals. While Kevin Durant and Russel Westbrook each saw their points per game improve in the series.
He was not the guy for the Thunder that time like he would go on to be with the Rockets. But he was supposed to be a guy. It would be like if Maxey was getting held to 7 points every game in the NBA Finals. He wouldn’t get as much heat as either Harden or Embiid would have. But it would very much be worth criticizing. It has been his one and only chance so far to play in the Finals. And he did not show up to help his team when they needed him.
(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Game 3 Vs Warriors in 2015 Western Conference Finals
James Harden did help drag the Rockets to a few Western Conference Finals. The first of which came in 2015, vs the Warriors of course. Now beating the Warriors is a very tough task. That team was a dynasty. If James Harden went out swinging but just got beat by a better team, it would be hard to hold it against him. But that is not how it went down.
The Rockets lost in 5 games. And in game 3, with his team already down 0-2. He was really bad. 17 points on 16 shots bad. Yes, he followed it up by being a hero in game 4 by scoring 45 points to avoid the sweep. But if he wasn’t so bad in game 3, maybe they wouldn’t have been in danger of getting swept. Just like this season where it’s hard to give him credit for games 1 and 4 when he was so bad in the other games, it is hard to credit him in that 2015 series since he was part of the reason they were down 0-3 to begin with. And as we are about to see, it got even worse in game 5.
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Game 5 in the 2015 Western Conference Finals
Harden was even more of a disaster two games later. He continued his poor shooting from game 3 and added a major turnover problem. 14 points on 11 shots, and 12 turnovers. Nearly more turnovers than points. In a game that was win or go home. Yea good for you Harden. You had your 45-point game. But if you sandwich that with two games where you are a liability on the floor, is that actually impressive?
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Game 1 vs the Warriors in 2016 First Round
The next season, the Rockets had the misfortune of drawing the Warriors in round 1. And once again, the Rockets barely put up a fight. Also once again, James Harden was less than optimal. Game 1 started it off on a bad note. Just 17 points on 19-shot attempts. He had 6 turnovers and just 2 assists to go with it. All part of a 26-point loss to open the series. And remember, this was his first playoff game since that ugly 12 turnover game to end the last season.
(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Game 4 vs the Warriors in 2016 First Round
He was good to decent in the next 2 games. As we saw this season, Harden can go from looking awful to good game to game. But there is always another bad game coming up. In this series, it was game 4. After scoring 28 and then 35 in games 2 and 3, he went back under 20. Just 18 points, while barely shooting .300. Only 4 turnovers though, so that is an improvement. It dropped the Rockets to 1-3 in the series. He did play well in game 5 where they were eliminated. But again, if he played well in games 1 and 4, maybe they aren’t down 1-3 to face elimination in game 5.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA – AUGUST 06: James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets brings the ball up court against the Los Angeles Lakers in the second half at The Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 6, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kim Klement-Pool/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Game 2 vs Spurs in 2nd Round of 2017 Playoffs
Next season, they got to avoid the Warriors in the playoffs. The problem is they ran into a different team that had been a dynasty. The Spurs. And it was the same story for James Harden once again. Hot one night, ice cold another. Never any consistency. He was fine in the game 1 win. But then with a chance to go up 2-0, he fell on his face. Just 20 points on 17 shots. The Rockets lost by 25. 2 for 9 from 3. 3 of 17 from the field. Sound familiar? In typical Harden fashion, he followed it up with some great games, including one where he scored 43. But it got the Rockets to down 3-2. And then game 6 happened.
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Game 6 vs the Spurs in 2017 2nd Round
10 points. 10 points in an elimination game. By the guy who is supposed to be the guy on the team. Embiid scored 15 in an elimination game, and we treated it as the worst thing ever (which he deserved blame for). Harden scored just 10. And he is the ball handler. No one needs to get him the ball. It was in his prime too. He won the MVP the next season. After 36 minutes, Harden fouled out, and his team lost by 39. The teams he is on sure seem to get blown out in elimination games a lot.
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Game 5 vs the Heat Last Season
Credit to Harden, for a few seasons, he didn’t have his playoff blow-ups. He was bad in a couple of games vs the Bucks in 2021 with the Nets. But he was also just coming back from an injury. So I left those games off because we don’t know how bad he was hurting. But even while limited by the hamstring in his first season with the Sixers, his performance was not good enough. In game 5 the Sixers lost by 29, and he scored just 14 points with 4 assists on 13 shots.
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Game 6 vs the Heat in 2022 2nd Round
Game 6 was even uglier for Harden. It made two straight 4th quarters without him scoring a point. In game 6, he took just 2 shots in the second half and hit none of them. He finished with 11 points on 9 shot attempts. You get James Harden thinking you are getting a guy who will keep shooting and put up buckets. The version of Harden they saw in the final two games vs the Heat, looked more like Ben Simmons. Too scared to drive or shoot.
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Game 2 vs the Celtics in 2023 2nd Round
And now we come to the games from this past season. Harden was great in game 1. Without Embiid, he put the team on his back, scored 45, and hit the game-winning shot. And many thought he finally was healthy and ready to step up in the playoffs. He followed that up with a 12-point game on a night the Sixers lost by 21. He shot 2 of 14. He was getting blocked a ton on drives, and couldn’t hit a 3. It was bad, but at this point, many Sixers fans were just happy to have split the series.
(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Game 3 vs the Celtics
He followed that up by scoring 16 points on 14 shots in game 3. Not as bad, but still not anywhere near good enough. The Sixers lost by 12, to fall behind 1-2 in the series. He did have 11 assists, which helps things a bit. But the Sixers needed someone besides Embiid to score in that game, and Harden was brought in to be that guy. They needed him to be so much better, but he could not give it to them in game 3. In game 4 he was great again. But like I have said so many times already if he was better in the games before game 4, would they have needed him to play hero to avoid going down 1-3 in game 4?
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Game 6 vs the Celtics
At home, with a 3-2 lead, the Sixers came up really small in game 6. And James Harden is part of that. Joel Embiid struggled from the floor, but still eventually got his points. Harden? He got 13 points on 16 shot attempts. Along with everyone else, he was missing shot after shot in the 4th quarter. It was yet another playoff game he shot under .300. You will notice it is becoming a trend.
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
