2 days Ago By Michael Pina
Daryl Morey is a master of the contingency plan. All possibilities are potential realities. Odds matter, but if something has a 0.
0001 percent chance of happening, then it’s worth a discussion. Or a phone call. Or its own Post-it note on the proverbial white board in his brain (plus an actual white board somewhere inside his office).
But at the dawn of a pivotal offseason that may ultimately define his tenure in Philadelphia, he didn’t need any of them. After he traded James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers (how ironic!) last fall for a package that consisted of draft picks and role players, his focus was 10 months into the future ( instead of, controversially, that season’s trade deadline ) when the Sixers would enter the summer with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and a blank canvas. As unlikely as it felt last Halloween, when Harden went out the door and a third star didn’t immediately replace him, Paul George—who just agreed to a four-year, $212 million max contract with the Sixers—was almost certainly viewed as a best-case scenario: throw the NBA’s platonic ideal of a wing between a speedy, blooming point guard and a physically overwhelming MVP center.
The only thing better than signing an All-Star in free agency is signing an All-Star who, on paper, fits seamlessly with your two franchise pillars. Two hundred and fourty-four days after all that cap space was officially created, Morey didn’t have to sweat. His Plan B, C, and Q were not necessary.
George will.
