CAMDEN, NJ – The Philadelphia 76ers made a move at the trade deadline, acquiring Jalen McDaniel in a four-team deal that also included sending Matisse Thieubul to the Portland Trail Blazers.
The move brought the Sixers below the luxury tax threshold, giving team president Daryl Morey and the front office flexibility for the buyout market and the off-season. They wanted to improve the team and likely to end the 2022–23 season with the championship. Morey believed that the move achieved both goals for the Sixers.
Morey said, “The focus was just on getting the team better.” “We think we’ve done that. I think, as part of my job, I have to look at the bigger picture and we have a lot of guys that we’re going to re-sign. The moves that we both made Come on, now the team has improved and it has become easier to help this team move forward.
This also includes the buyout market. There are plenty of players at the big man position and on the wing that the Sixers could inquire about and believe they have the ability to do so now.
“All the flexibility we’ve got allows us to add multiple buyers if they come along,” Morey said. “We are actively considering that and have nothing to announce yet, but we are actively looking at a number of players right now.”
Then, there is the position of the backup center. The location is operated by Montreal Harrell and Paul Reid. Both are serviceable players, but when Joel Embiid goes to the bench, the Sixers struggle without them. The front office tried to fill that need through trade, but was unable to do so.
“We looked at all of our needs and tried to look for upgrades wherever we could,” Morey said. “We took the move we thought was the best available. We looked at everything. It was the best move.”
When asked to assess the backup Big Man situation, Morey was more concerned with how the team struggles when Embiid is off the field.
“I think we have a lot of versatility with the lineup,” he concluded. “The doctors (Rivers) do a great job of figuring it out. I think there’s a number of ways we can do that — just to be fair, I think most people are worried about Joel being off. Like How do we play after Joel leaves? I think we’re going to improve. It hasn’t been as good as we’d like.
Source: sixerswire.usatoday.com
