Philadelphia, Daryl Morey Face Tough Decisions in the Midst of Joel Embiid’s Dominance

With reports that Philadelphia 76ers’ president of basketball operations Daryl Morey is willing to keep Ben Simmons past the trade deadline, questions arise about the Sixers’ goals for the remainder of the season.

Second-year guard Tyrese Maxey has played well above expectation thus far and Philly’s superstar center Joel Embiid has been on an absolute tear over the last month. But with his recent success, fans are starting to wonder whether Morey is taking the idea of maximizing Embiid’s prime into consideration.

With that being the case, let’s take a look at Embiid’s recent stretch, some of the decisions Morey has made thus far and what the road ahead looks like.

When talking about the play of Joel Embiid this season, through 35 games he has been nothing short of spectacular on both sides of the floor. Joel Embiid this season is averaging 28.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. With such a stat line, Embiid’s 28.7 points is a career-high and places him 3rd amongst the league in scoring. He is also accomplishing such a feat at an unbelievably efficient rate. 

This far this season he is shooting 49.8% from the field, 39% from three and 81.5% from the free throw line. These shooting splits have helped uplift him to having the second-best Player Efficiency Rating in the NBA at 31.60 behind only Nikola Jokic at 33.65. 

Although Embiid’s season in its totality has been quite impressive, what has caught the eyes of many is his dominance over the last month. In the month of January, Embiid has led the Sixers to an 8-3 record in which he has scored 30+ points in all but one game during that 11-game stretch. 

Additionally, through these 11 games Embiid has posted seven double-doubles and had eight games where he finished at least ten free throw attempts.  Most notably his recent performance broke the internet as he scored 50 points and collected 12 rebounds in a win over the Orlando Magic.

Embiid did this while shooting 17-of-23 from the field and 15-of-17 from the free throw line in only 27 minutes on the floor. Did I mention that there was no Tyrese Maxey, Matisse Thybulle or Shake Milton available in this game? Talk about putting the team on your back. 

But with the recent dominance of the Sixers’ 27-year-old superstar, fans are clamoring more than ever for general manager Darryl Morey to make a move involving Ben Simmons. Nonetheless, Morey has been quite open about what he would like in return for Simmons.

Just over the last few weeks alone, Morey has made it more than clear that teams will have to practically move heaven and earth in order truly be in the conversation for a potential Simmons deal. 

Last week, reports per Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer shared details of a large trade proposal for Ben Simmons offered by the Detroit Pistons. This deal would’ve included Jerami Grant, second year forward Saddiq Bey and Kelly Olynyk in exchange for the three-time All-Star.

A deal that included one of the most discussed trade pieces on the market in Grant, a young wing in Bey and a floor spacer in Olynyk, all things most teams would kill for on the open market. Yet the Sixers clearly have bigger plans. 

To add insult to injury, as if moving Simmons wasn’t hard enough, Morey views his entire roster as his canvas in preparation for the upcoming trade deadline. Reports earlier this month stated that Philly is trying to include Harris in a Ben Simmons trade. The trouble that comes with trying to accomplish such a fear is the fact that the remainder of Harris’s is viewed as a somewhat negative return. 

According to Spotrac.com Harris this season is owed nearly $36 million with two more seasons left on his five-year deal before becoming an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2024. Through those two seasons, the contract actually continues to increase on a per year basis. Next season Harris will be owed $37 million and then up to $39 million during the 2023-24 season.

This combination of Harris’s not so team friendly contract along with the fact that the contract takes him into his age 31 season makes him a relatively difficult asset to move.

But when there’s a will, there’s a way when it comes to Daryl Morey, so you never know. One trade package thrown out there that could gain some steam is a deal centered around Sacramento Kings’ guard De’Aaron Fox.

On a recent episode of the “Hollinger and Duncan” NBA podcast hosted by John Hollinger and Nate Duncan, the two notable NBA analysts highlighted that Fox may arguably be the best available player out there on the market to suit what Morey is looking for. 

“De’Aaron Fox is the best player return that has been discussed in any of these rumored Ben Simmons deals…” Nate Duncan said.” “In terms of a guy who could potentially develop into an All-Star, he is really the only one in any of these rumored returns for Simmons that I think falls into that category.” 

Duncan adds, “If it’s [De’Aaron] Fox, [Buddy] Hield, and [Harrison] Barnes for [Ben] Simmons and [Tobias] Harris I think even without any further draft pick compensation going to the Sixers, I think I would do that as the Sixers.”

Of course, whether Duncan or Hollinger would do it is irrelevant considering Morey calls the shots. But the logic surrounding the idea is worth considering. Even then, there are still so many questions needing answers to even get such a trade off the ground.

Is De’Aaron Fox even available? Do the Kings think they can build around Simmons? If the Sixers trade Simmons now, will they end up missing out on a Damian Lillard or a James Harden in the off-season?

But here are a few things that we are certain of: Right now, Philadelphia is 5th in the East, sitting 2.5 games out of first place with a record of 27-19. Joel Embiid is an injury prone center in his age 27 season playing some of the best basketball of his career. These are just the facts. So with that, the clock is ticking and it’s ticking fast.

Whether Philly fans are willing to accept getting a guy like De’Aaron Fox for this season and the foreseeable future is a question all in itself. But waiting till the offseason feels like an even more controversial decision.

At the end of the day, I still view everything Morey has said as a bit of a smokescreen to help influence other teams to continue to raise the stakes. Regardless, if Morey has a master plan waiting in the wind, he might want to work on speeding up that timetable. Because if he doesn’t do something soon, he might end up on the opposing side of a Philly mob by season’s end.