Daryl Morey explains why he's best option to lead Sixers to success

USA Today

08-05-2025

Daryl Morey explains why he's best option to lead Sixers to success
The Philadelphia 76ers had a miserable 2024-25 season in which they finished 24-58 despite the championship expectations. They had a busy 2024 offseason when they re-signed Tyrese Maxey to a max deal, brought in Paul George on a 4-year $212 million deal, and inked Joel Embiid to an extension.
With Embiid, Maxey, and George leading the way, the Sixers were expected to be among the top contenders in the league.
Instead, it was a disaster. Embiid, Maxey, and George played together for only 18 games, finishing 15 of them, and they went 7-8 in those 15 games. The Sixers were hit with a ton of injuries and had no chemistry as they stumbled through a tough season. Embiid, especially, was dealing with a lot as he was limited to just 19 games and underwent surgery in April on his bothersome left knee.
President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey joined "The Mike Missanelli Show" on 97.5 The Fanatic and explained why he's still the best man to lead the way for this group:
It was a disaster season. There's really no way to say anything but that. Look, I would say the roster next year is going to be much stronger. We've got—one thing when you have a disaster season is, how do you take advantage of it? You want to give yourself a chance at a high pick in the draft, which we have. We've got an early second. Next year, our roster will be more athletic and younger with with (Quentin) Grimes, with (Justin) Edwards, with (Adem) Bona, with Jared McCain, with potentially a top draft pick and and we're gonna have a healthier team. So I would say, look, hang in. We feel your pain, fans. And let's play this out next year. We feel very strongly about next year.
In Morey's defense, the Sixers have won a lot of games since he took over in 2020. They were the No. 1 seed in his first season with the team in 2020-21 before falling to the Atlanta Hawks in Round 2. They then navigated the Ben Simmons drama to nab James Harden and won a lot of games in 2021-22 and 2022-23 before falling in Round 2 in both seasons.
Then Morey and Co. navigated the Harden drama to begin the 2023-24 season and had one of the better records in the league before Embiid went down with an injury. The Sixers still recovered to win 47 games and get into the playoffs before falling in Round 1. 2024-25 was a complete misfire.
While there are some who certainly question whether Morey is the one to lead the way, he still feels very confident about himself heading into the offseaon:
I mean, this is the first losing season I've ever had. More deep playoff runs than pretty much any executive in league history. I've never been to the lottery, probably because we only win so I'm pretty good at the winning thing.
Time will tell, but Morey's seat certainly expects to be warm heading into the 2025-26 season.