2023-2024 Sixers Season

[phillychuck]

So far so good this summer--his 3 pt % in Utah was 38%, now 37.5% in Las Vegas. He hasn't converted his 2's as well as he should, though.

[xogfog]

Another trade idea:

Clippers get James Harden
Bulls get Tobias Harris, Norman Powell, 2029 Clippers 1st, 2024 Clippers 2nd (Via Raptors)
Sixers get Zach Levine, Terrence Mann, Robert Covington, Patrick Williams

Works in the trade machine...

That would give the Sixers a pretty deep roster.

Embiid, Bamba, Harrell, Williams, Reed, Tucker, Levine, House, Covington, Mann, Melton, Maxey, Beverly, Springer, TBD

[bigegypt0417]

Sixers sign 2021 draft pick Filip Petrusev

[xogfog]

Well Morey now looks good after signing too many centers…

Sixers' Montrezl Harrell suffers torn ACL, medial meniscus tear

[bkox]

ESPN Sources: The 76ers have ended trade talks on guard James Harden and plan to bring him back to training camp for start of the season. The Sixers had periodic offseason conversations with the Clippers — Harden’s desired destination — but no traction on a deal materialized. pic.twitter.com/sJwXMsBYKW

— Adrian Wojnarowski ( @wojespn ) August 12, 2023

[bkeich]

Hated getting Harden. It was obvious he would be a malcontent eventually. Can't wait to see him in camp.

Forget this season, it is hopeless. They didn't have a draft pick, signed no one of consequence, they are just waiting for the next offseason. We would be better off letting Embiid rest for a year since the team isn't even trying to improve around him.

They are hoping they can at least lose in the second round again, but even that might be a stretch.

[bkox]

Source: Even with the Sixers ending trade talks on James Harden, the disgruntled star still has no plans on playing for Philly and his stance remains unchanged. Unpacking the latest here, at @TheAthletic https://t.co/4R12mSfc9A

— Sam Amick ( @sam_amick ) August 13, 2023

[allentown]

The Sixers were desperate to unload Simmons, who was way more of a malcontent than Harden has been. Harden was the price for the Nets to take Simmons. I am sorry that the Sixers also gave up 2 first-round draft picks in that deal (I don't think they minded parting with Curry).

[zambonir]

They may not have minded parting with Curry but that team wasn't actually better without Curry and Drummond (and worse with Millsap) in the year the trade was made. Not the result would have been that different.

Harden likely can't hold out and the Sixers can probably tolerate the circus until this year's newly signed players are trade-eligible, if not until the trade deadline. Amick's report says Harden's camp still believes a trade can happen. That may be optimistic but this is clearly a message to the Clippers and other teams more than Harden.

[zambonir]

James Harden: 'Daryl Morey is a liar'

Hold that thought on whether Simmons was more of a malcontent than Harden. (I'm not sure that is even true based on what Harden did in Houston. But really Simmons just wasn't as good a player at that point.

One assumes this refers to the Sixers not giving him a new contract, rather than them breaking a promise to trade him.

[xogfog]

You know, If Morey wants to shut Harden up, give him a bonus equal to what Harden left on the table to allow the Sixers to sign more players and tell him to go out and put up a great year going into his free agent season next year.

[zambonir]

I don't think there is any way for the Sixers to do that, cap-wise. Not a bad idea but also not really reasonable to tell him to go out and prove his worth at his age. He just had an extremely good season, is who he is, and no more failed to carry the Sixers into the conference finals than Joel did. Of course he obviously was also not going to take whatever shorter or lower-priced deal Morey was understandably prepared to offer.

The fractured relationship really does come down to whether or not the Sixers really did promise Harden they'd take care of him if he too less money in Year 1 and opted-out and re-signed. Which of course would have been illegal (and the NBA did not find any tampering with Harden's deal, just the other two guys). But probably did happen. However, did he really think they were going to give him a max?

I saw an article that ripped Harden for refusing to honor a deal he opted into by choice, but it wasn't really that simple. It would have been worse for the Sixers had he opted out (i.e. he either leaves for nothing or signs-and-trades or stays here with an odious deal). Now the best thing for them is for him to stay - but only if he's not a giant problem.

It's hardly over in mid-August in any case. Dame hasn't moved either. Trade might happen or it might be drama into the season, same as it was for Harden the last two times as well as for Ben.

[bkeich]

How many teams is this now that have treated Harden wrong? 4? Maybe the teams are not the problem.

I hated getting him. Was unimpressed with most of his time here (never plays defense, at all, almost indignantly lets his guy score, etc.). The last series game results went entirely on him playing well or not, a sign that he does not get his teammates involved, etc. Good Riddance. Don't trade him without value, let him sit and not get paid, his career will be over if he sits a season.

Listening to him complain that he signed a $30M+ contract, but didn't mean to play for that team is ridiculous. He tried to "play the system" so he could get a max contract and still play where he wanted was his gamble, which he lost. If he wanted to play for the Clippers he could have just signed with them, but he didn't want to do that without the huge contract that a sign and trade would bring him. Took a risk, lost, Clippers didn't want to give up much to get him apparently (and I can understand that).

[allentown]

Something about the NBA seems to encourage uncoachable, me-first, ego-driven players. Every sport has them, but it seems not nearly as high a percentage. In the NFL, I think only WRs and QBs match the percentage.

In all sports, those doing the drafting and handing out of bonuses, need to focus as much on personality and sports character as on talent. The Phillies have had some notable expensive bombs because of not doing so, and the Sixers are a case study in doing it wrong.

[zambonir]

Don't get me wrong, Harden is a malcontent and nothing but trouble. But Morey knew it was a snake. You can't really say the Sixers didn't do the research here, they just though they could live with it (though it's equally baffling previous regime whiffed on Simmons given Brown's history with him, though the "regime' at the time was also a mess. And ownership remains so).

[zambonir]

lol

according to sources, acquiring Harden was part of the reason Morey was named team president on Nov. 2, 2020.

_Former Sixers minority owner Michael Rubin wanted to bring Harden to the Sixers to form a dominant duo with Joel Embiid

orey attempted to reunite with Harden during the 2020-21 season, offering Ben Simmons and Matisse Thybulle as part of a trade package..

James Harden was dumb to put the Sixers in a corner. He’d be even dumber to...

[VoteForKalas]

Something about the NBA seems to encourage uncoachable, me-first, ego-driven players. Every sport has them, but it seems not nearly as high a percentage.

There is certainly something to that.

I see these as the main drivers:

The culture of basketball is more individualistic & star-driven in nature
The culture revolves a lot around highlight or splash plays that garner media coverage & fan attention
The culture rewards image over substance to a higher degree than other sports

The NBA rewards individual players over team success and smaller rosters require stars to contend
The NBA has set up economic incentives based on compiling stats/star power to gain larger contracts, endorsements
The NBA has increasingly become a players league i.e. ownership & management have less power
The NBA has refused to restrict or, even if restricted, to enforce rules around FA, trades and player holdouts/movement

I think since football is such a team first game (as is baseball and hockey to lesser extents but more than basketball) with large rosters, the NFL has been able to keep the power with ownership & management, restrict how players can move from team to team and quell some of that fame & media attention that drive player power. It does not hurt that player wear helmets and may not be recognized by fans out in public etc.

[bigegypt0417]

Daryl Morey gave harden contracts that made him something close to half a billion dollars...Daryl Morey has been the biggest Harden fan since he traded for him in Houston...

Sorry....Morey isn't the issue.

[bkeich]

I have long had the theory that the faster an athlete is, the crazier he is. In the NFL, the guys that so often cause problems are WR and CB, it has something to do with foot speed. When was the last time a RG made the news for crazy antics?

Yea, there are examples of course (Suh, etc), but really, the WR and CB are so often the issues.

I guess it doesn't really convert to Basketball. The fastest guy we have is clearly Maxey, and he seems like the most happy-go-lucky, I just want to play and have fun guy who always has a smile on his face on the court.

Maybe it is just football.

[bkox]

Maybe it is just football.

Rickey Henderson..... He was quite the character.