There were things out of his control, but Daryl Morey’s tenure had plenty of unforced errors

When Daryl Morey was hired by the Sixers as president of basketball operations immediately following the NBA bubble in 2020, Philadelphia fans rejoiced. It felt like a savior was joining the front office to right the ship and deliver the championship Morey’s former colleague Sam Hinkie longed for when facilitating The Process.

Morey was handed a starting five of Ben Simmons, Josh Richardson, Tobias Harris, Al Horford and Joel Embiid, a group designed to compete in the early 2000s, not the three-point and space-heavy offense the league was trending towards at the turn of the decade.

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Fast forward to 2026, Embiid and Morey were the only two remaining from that original group, and the Sixers have still not made it out of the second round of the playoffs.

And now, Morey is gone. The team announced on Tuesday they’ve parted ways with the long-time executive after six seasons.

Unfortunately, the Sixers find themselves in a dire cap situation that leaves very few doors open in terms of drastically changing the roster for next season — in large part thanks to Morey and ownership.

But first, the things that Morey could not control that led us here:

Embiid’s health was perhaps the biggest factor into yet another unsuccessful season in 2025-26. The center missed 44 games during the regular season and three games in the playoffs. Even with the unlucky nature of the injuries, having your highest-earning player’s status be so unpredictable on a game-to-game basis makes the job for any executive more difficult.

Paul George was suspended 25 games during the middle of the season for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program. Yes, the rest might have led him to perform at a high level during the playoffs. But who knows how helpful George would have been during those games to earn a higher seed in the East, perhaps avoid the Play-In and tougher side of the bracket altogether? The Sixers went 13-12 in the games he missed, where four losses were within a 15-point margin.

Tyrese Maxey injured his right pinky finger on March 7 against the Hawks late in the game after a collision with Adem Bona. He missed…

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Publish date : 2026-05-13 13:33:00

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