Sixers President Daryl Morey Still Thinks They Can Win

While Philly has been distracted by the Eagles being in the Super Bowl, an NBA trade deadline came and went. To break down what the Sixers did, and try to convince fans to buy back in, Daryl Morey joined The Mike Missanelli show. See what Morey had to say below.

Daryl Morey and the Philadelphia 76ers will welcome Quentin Grimes and Jared Butler for the final two months of the 2024-25 regular season. 

The Sixers also subtracted part of the veteran presence added during their splashy 2024 offseason, but where do they stand on aggregate?

The Sixers sat in 11th place in the Eastern Conference at the NBA Trade Deadline. Did Morey improve their chances of a postseason berth or maintain the sliver of hope for salvaging what’s been a disastrous season at the Wells Fargo Center?

Adding around the margins and subtracting questionable fits was a practical strategy for Daryl Morey. However, everyone knows the real change that would turn the tide of the 2024-25 season: health.

The Sixers won’t achieve anything in the playoffs without Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey on the floor together healthy.

Morey’s moves at the NBA Trade Deadline have more to do with questions beyond this season’s proverbial dead horse.

76ers Get: Quentin Grimes, 2nd-Round pick in 2027 (more favorable of Denver Nuggets or 76ers)
Dallas Mavericks Get: Caleb Martin

Quentin Grimes provides a different type of upside than Caleb Martin.

The 24-year-old will join his fourth NBA team in four seasons. If the Sixers retain the impending restricted free agent, he could bring better size to the future of a backcourt with two undersized starters Jared McCain and Tyrese Maxey.

The Sixers signed Caleb Martin to a four-year, $35 million deal entering his age 29 season. His playoff acumen looked like a fit, and he led the charge in a memorable Christmas Day upset against the Boston Celtics.

However, the group of veterans that joined the team collectively haven’t produced the desired results.

Moving on from Martin and Reggie Jackson could ultimately inject some life into a team that’s limped through a rough season.

The Sixers shed long-term money owed to a veteran who hadn’t found his rhythm and had struggled with injuries. The move creates an opportunity for Grimes and Butler to create new energy with younger blood in Ricky Council IV, Justin Edwards, and Guerschon Yabusele.

76ers Get: cash considerations
Detroit Pistons Get: 2nd-Round pick in 2027 (from Milwaukee Bucks), 2nd-Round pick in 2031 (from Dallas Mavericks)

When the Sixers signed KJ Martin during the 2024 offseason, the contract looked like a simple set-up for an in-season trade of an expiring deal.

Morey ultimately paid the Pistons just to take him off Philadelphia’s hands. 

Martin played his 24th game of the season and final game with the Sixers on December 23. Morey found (essentially) no trade value and cut his losses after botching a small-scale move about as badly as possible.

Trading Martin also won’t help the Sixers sign Yabusele this offseason, which had been discussed in reference to the NBA’s mid-level exception.

Rich Hofmann pointed out that although this salary dump isn’t the most consequential trade, Philadelphia sports fans should also recognize that the Sixers just made a move based on financial motivation that made the team immediately worse.

Does Josh Harris view the financial advantage as a way to improve the Sixers or as a way to improve the Washington Commanders (or the New Jersey Devils)?

76ers Get: Jared Butler, 4 2nd-Round picks (2027, 2028, 2030, 2030)
Washington Wizards Get: Reggie Jackson, 1st-Round pick in 2026 (least favorable of first-round picks between Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Houston Rockets as long as Houston’s is 5-30)

Jared Butler will team up with Quentin Grimes in a new-look younger backcourt.

Reggie Jackson wasn’t the most appropriate fit, and his short stint with the Sixers never fully got off the ground. A team with point guard Kyle Lowry doesn’t have much use for another veteran ball handler past the best years of his career.

Buter, like Grimes, will also join his fourth team in four NBA seasons. He’s swung back and forth from the G League throughout most of his career.

The idea of dropping him in with Council, Edwards, and a different group to create new energy makes sense after the brutal early months of the 2024-25 season.

However, Sixers fans shouldn’t look at him as a major impact addition. 

While Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond have battled injuries, Guerschon Yabusele has become the breakout story of the season.

The French big man also looked like Morey’s most valuable trade chip approaching the deadline. His fate was the key indicator of whether or not the Sixers were taking the rest of the season seriously or waving the white flag of surrender. 

Yabusele remained with the Sixers, and the assumed plan after passing up the opportunity to move him for a considerable return is to re-sign him during the offseason.

The Sixers owe Drummond $5 million for the 2025-26 season, but it’s fair to wonder about the 31-year-old’s future as a reliable backup for the often-injured Embiid. An energy player like Yabusele helps stabilize the frontcourt for the remainder of the season and leaves the opportunity for a future in Philadelphia.

Joel Embiid’s health will determine the odds of a late-season push. Morey recognized that no trade would change the inevitability.

The Sixers certainly didn’t gain a significant talent advantage. Morey made two logical moves to add some youth with Quentin Grimes and Jared Butler, possibly with the hope of building off the energy that some of the younger players like Council and Edwards have brought in recent weeks.

The losses of Jackson and Caleb Martin won’t crush the Sixers, but the two veterans along with KJ Martin bring more NBA experience and more immediate advantages than Philadelphia’s two new additions.

Morey’s strategy makes sense, and it has a chance to succeed because of some elements of flexibility in the buyout market and beyond this season.

However, he didn’t make significant upgrades to the roster, and the KJ Martin blunder removes any optimism that might’ve grown within the fan base about a younger, resurgent cast that can alter the course of the disastrous 2024-25 season.