As we all turn the page to the offseason, Sixers fans are now in wait-and-see mode as reports swirl about the uncertain futures of president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and head coach Nick Nurse. What we all know is that the team is stuck in a bit of a holding pattern. As we saw in the playoffs, the Sixers lacked adequate depth to not only compete with the Knicks but to keep their starters fresh for what would have been six more weeks of basketball had they been able to advance all the way
to the NBA Finals. The problem is, that depth might not be able to be acquired overnight.
There might be some renewed hope that Philadelphia can get out of the final two years of Paul George’s contract after George’s production improved after his 25-game suspension. If so, a trade of George could inject some much-needed depth to the Sixers’ roster by itself. Then there’s expiring contracts to Quentin Grimes, Kelly Oubre and Andre Drummond, really the only three role players that saw meaningful minutes this past postseason. Perhaps there’s a world in which Morey can replace some or all of those players in that trio with better role players for 2026-27.
But Morey’s history in Philadelphia is spotty at best in free agency and on the trade market. It’s his draft history that could ultimately give him some more time as the man in charge of basketball operations. Since taking over in 2020, Morey has drafted four players in the first round that have gone on to play games for the Sixers. Those picks were Tyrese Maxey, Jaden Springer, Jared McCain and VJ Edgecombe. Springer was clearly the only miss amongst that group. Of course he traded McCain this past February, but drafting McCain was a wise decision. Maxey and McCain were both picked outside of the lottery which is where the Sixers find themselves drafting this summer with the 22nd overall pick via Houston acquired from Oklahoma City.
While second-round picks can be a crapshoot, Morey has also drafted Isaiah Joe and Paul Reed towards the end of the second round and both players are NBA rotation players for contending teams six years after being drafted. Adem Bona wasn’t a meaningful part of the Sixers’ playoff rotation this past season, but one could argue he has exceeded expectations of most 41st overall picks, the spot Bona was taken at in 2024.
I get it. You’ve already said, “What’s the point of making good draft picks if the players aren’t going to be retained?” I’m not here to give a ringing endorsement of Morey. But I am trying to get Sixers fans to understand something they might not want to understand at the moment given Morey’s unpopularity within the fanbase. The easiest way for the franchise to build the depth they didn’t have against New York is by continuing to draft good players.
Obviously, they’ll need to keep these players unlike some of Morey’s good draft picks who aren’t with the organization anymore. But the draft represents a chance for every team in the NBA to add young talent and the teams that can best identify said young talent each year are going to be well-positioned to contend.
Morey is under contract with the Sixers for two more seasons as his contract expires after the 2027-28 season. That would mean that Morey has two more drafts with the Sixers, if he’s given those two years in their entirety to remain in his current role. Between this summer and next summer’s drafts, the Sixers have a total of five picks. They also own what could be a very nice draft asset in 2028 as the holders of the Clippers’ unprotected first-rounder and they have first-round swap rights with Los Angeles in 2029.
With the first-round debt to Oklahoma City set to be paid off next month, the Sixers control all of their own first-rounders in the near future save for 2028. They owe Brooklyn their 2028 first-round pick to complete the James Harden-Ben Simmons trade, but that pick is top-eight protected. If it were to fall in the 2028 top eight, the Sixers would only owe the Nets a second-round pick to finalize the trade.
While Morey might not get a new contract to preside over the 2028 and 2029 drafts, we find those draft assets relevant to this discussion because the summer of 2029 is when the Sixers will be done with the three-year max contract for Joel Embiid that is set to kick in next season. Regardless of who is running the Sixers by then, if the franchise can string together some more good drafts for the rest of the decade, they’ll have a good core around Maxey and Edgecombe by then, even if they don’t hit on their free agent signings or strike gold in a few trades.
That’s been the chief problem for the Sixers this decade as they’ve unsuccessfully tried to build around Embiid. The franchise was missing too frequently in trades and free agency, and it’s what led to them being stuck now. Despite some good drafting from Morey, they were also trading away draft picks in an attempt to contend, but the returns in those trades were never helping them get over the hump. We’ve now reached the point where it doesn’t make sense for the franchise to be trading away draft picks as they must act as if Embiid does not exist and supplement their star guards in the backcourt with more young talent.
I don’t think anyone is talking themselves into Morey flipping George for a couple of good roster players or replacing Grimes, Drummond or Oubre with improvements. Those are ways that the Sixers could immediately improve for next season but no one is expecting the team to be significantly improved next year anyway. If the whole idea is having a better and younger core in place for Maxey and Edgecombe, that’s going to require a few more years of good drafting, and of course, retaining the good draft picks once they’re on the roster. Like it or not, Morey’s strong track record in the draft might be enough for him to get a chance to stick around and turn things over.
