August 01, 2024
Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports
Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey has put together as close to a perfect offseason as possible in the last month.
As we continue to prepare for the Sixers to sign one or two more players between now and the start of training camp, let's dive into some of your questions about the state of the team:
From @jlipscomb53102: Could Daryl Morey be on the hot seat if another early playoff exit happens?
Morey, who was hired as Sixers President of Basketball Operations following the team's disastrous 2019-20 season, has his fair share of detractors -- to say the least. Some of the criticism he has faced is fair, but a lot of the vitriol sent toward one of the most successful executives in NBA history since his arrival in Philadelphia has been misplaced anger. And, to be fair, accepting that is part of the job of any high-profile decision-maker in sports.
To answer the question in a few words: no, he will not be. Putting aside any debate about Morey's credentials as the shot-caller for an NBA team, consider this: last December, the team inked Morey to a contract extension through the end of the 2027-28 season. Morey's first deal with the team was a lucrative one, and it likely cost Josh Harris, David Blitzer and Sixers ownership a pretty penny to secure an even longer commitment.
Surely, there are fair criticisms of Morey -- but is that not the case for any President of Basketball Operations or General Manager in the NBA? The team has not accomplished its primary goal under Morey yet, but he has surely done much more to improve the short- and long-term standing of the team than his predecessors. How many lead decision-makers in the NBA are definitely better at their jobs than Morey? The list is short.
From @impulse020: What improvements can we look to expect out of Kelly Oubre Jr.'s game this season?
What made Oubre's value to the Sixers so immense last season was that he was malleable. Looking to prove to the league that he was capable of contributing to winning at a high level, a player once thought of as an empty calories scorer bought in as a spot-up shooter, an occasional scorer, a cutter and a trustworthy defender on the perimeter.
So, as far as improvements go, there is one obvious area where Oubre can get better, and it is his accuracy from beyond the arc. Oubre is perfectly comfortable to launch from deep in just about any situation, and oftentimes that is at least half the battle. Oubre has attempted 9.0 three-pointers per 100 possessions over the last seven seasons, an impressive number, but has made only 33.1 percent of those shots, a less monumental figure.
Oubre began 2023-24 on pace for quite possibly the best three-point shooting season of his career, but his numbers fell off drastically over the last few months of the season. To an extent, that likely had to do with inevitable regression to the mean. But it also lines up with Joel Embiid's absence during the second half of the season which lasted just over two months.
Embiid began missing frequent time in January and suffered his devastating injury during the team's final game in that month. From October through December, Oubre made 36.7 percent of his triples. From January through the end of the regular season, that number plummeted to 29.0 percent.
Oubre becoming a high-efficiency three-point shooter while maintaining his impressive volume would make him one of the most valuable role players in the entire NBA. Time will tell if it is a genuine possibility.
From @GlennQSpoonerSt: Would the Sixers have been a better team if they signed the much younger Tyus Jones and Gary Trent Jr. and instead of Kyle Lowry and Eric Gordon?
While I understand the appeal of adding younger talent, and understand concerns about Lowry and Gordon -- who will be 39 and 36 years old, respectively, when the playoffs begin -- I believe the two veterans were strong signings on veteran's minimum contracts. Lowry has lost his burst that enabled self-creation, but remains the ultimate Swiss Army knife as someone who can set up his teammates with crisp passes, knock down spot-up triples, defend across multiple positions and keep a team organized, while Gordon is one of the most dangerous three-point shooters in the NBA thanks to his outrageous range.
In a vacuum, Jones is surely a more valuable player than Lowry given he is 10 years younger. But I have trouble criticizing the Sixers for signing Lowry for a few reasons: given their organizational timeline, if the team believes Lowry is even five percent better than Jones, they should have prioritized Lowry. Additionally, by all accounts Jones only took the minimum to sign with the Phoenix Suns because they promised him a starting point guard job. The Sixers had no such opportunity to offer him, and so he very well may not have considered coming to Philadelphia.
Trent, who landed with the Milwaukee Bucks on a minimum contract, is more than 10 years younger than Gordon. But, again, when you are filling out the rotation of a hopeful contender, you should go for sure things. The Sixers know exactly what they are going to get from Gordon -- in part because of Morey's history with the veteran sharpshooter, but also because he has such a lengthy track record. Trent is without question a terrific shooter as well, but whether or not he can be relied upon elsewhere is very much up in the air. And, like Jones, he is likely now slotting into a starting lineup. The Sixers did not need to shoot for the stars when signing a backup shooting guard to space the floor, and so they did not.
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