Report: 76ers tried, failed to lure Rockets GM Daryl Morey to head front office
While the big NBA offseason news has been focused on player transactions including LeBron James and DeMarcus Cousins, the Philadelphia 76ers attempted to make a big splash of their own in the front office.
Report: 76ers tried to lure Rockets GM Daryl Morey
The 76ers tried to woo Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, but came up short in their efforts, Marc Stein of the New York Times reports.
The Philadelphia 76ers have been rebuffed in their attempt to hire away Houston's Daryl Morey to take over as their new general manager, @NYTSports has learned
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 16, 2018
Morey, the Rockets general manager of 12 years, was recently named executive of the year by his peers for his efforts that surrounded James Harden with Chris Paul, P.J. Tucker and a supporting cast that helped compile the NBA’s best regular-season record.
76ers looking to recover from Bryan Colangelo debacle
The 76ers are conducting a search for a new general manager following the ouster of Bryan Colangelo after an embarrassing episode over burner Twitter accounts criticizing star center Joel Embiid and former Philadelphia executive Sam Hinkie among others that were ultimately linked to his wife.
There’s a certain irony that the 76ers were interested in Morey in that Hinkie, the controversial architect of “The Process,” was a protégé of Morey’s. Hinkie took a strictly analytical process of tanking to compile assets that eventually led to high draft picks Embiid, Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz among others.
The 76ers parted ways with Hinkie and replaced him with Colangelo before the 76ers eventually turned the corner from a perennial loser into a playoff team.
Morey looks a lot like Sam Hinkie
Morey also takes an unconventional analytics-based approach to building a basketball team that has similarly taken a heavy dose of criticism and support from basketball minds debating the strategy.
As it turns out, the plans by both men are now paying dividends on the basketball court. It appears the 76ers may be looking to recreate the strategy — and demonstrating some regret over the Hinkie firing.
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