EAT IT HARDEN: GM Daryl Morey Gets Contract Extension With The Sixers
CLAP YOUR HANDS EVERYBODY AND MAY JAMES EDWARD HARDEN KINDLY SIT ON ALL FISTS.
Some may not like the move, and I can rationalize that viewpoint, but I think it's a necessity to at least give Morey an actual chance with a real team in Philly. Oh, Daryl has been here for 3 seasons and hasn't had a "Real Team", you say? What about the #1 seed that shit their pants vs. the Hawks? Or the squad that took the Boston Celtics to Game 7 last year in the Eastern Conference semi's?
Yeah, on paper each 2nd round exit looks like a disgrace. And they were. But in reality every Sixers fan knows the flaws that devoured each of those teams. Stuff was mostly beyond Morey's control and he did the best he could in every god awful situation. In fact, the Harden shitshow was third time in his 3-year tenure with the team in which he's faced a disaster most GM's usually never have to deal with once.
Let's break them all down real quick:
1) Morey came into the organization fresh off Bryan Colangelo's huge collars creating burner accounts (while trading up to the #1 pick for Markelle Fultz) and rookie GM Elton Brand legit making every wrong decision possible. Remember Al Horford and his zillion dollar contract as a Sixer? Sadly, yes. Daryl Morey joined the squad and magically made that impossible situation disappear.
B) Then of course there was the Ben Simmons saga. A truly unique disaster never seen before in all of sports. No GM should ever have to deal with what Morey had to go through in this situation. Morey did what he could, stuck to his guns of waiting for some value, and attempted to make watered down lemonade out of a bag of syphilitic lemons.
And 3) The James Harden saga. Was this one self-inflicted by Morey? Possibly. At least it was definitely more volitional than the other two disastrous situations. Especially what happened this off-season. But I believe Morey has done all he could with the cards he was dealt. Like him or not, what more could you expect out of this? Ben Simmons forced his way out and James Harden was by FAR the best outcome of that shitty spot. They tried it for a season and 1/3, and now Harden didn't want to play for the Sixers. He made it public. He also tied everyone's balls down by saying he'd only really go to the Clippers. You can do all of those things as a player in the NBA circa 2023 and get away with it. Morey did everything he could to keep a championship 2nd round viable team on the court during Embiid's MVP prime. And for that, I applaud him.
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Oh, and 20 other NBA teams passed on Tyrese Maxey before Morey took him at 21. Plus he's got a dickton of cap space as well as an upcoming Clippers first round pick at the end of the decade that could be HUGE. Lots to play around with. Let Daryl eat. And just in case, here's a Woj addition that just makes perfect sense:
Perfect. Either get it done by '28 or everyone get out the door. We've now officially got 4+ years left of this "Process" and hopefully Embiid's Super Prime. It's safe to say either the Sixers win it all in that time or are gonna do the generational blow the shit up again at the end of the decade. Let's just get it done.
CUE IT!