Daryl Morey says 76ers had one other ‘excellent’ Ben Simmons commerce choice, backup plan to steer him to remain

In an interview on “The Rights to Ricky Sanchez” on Wednesday, Philadelphia 76ers president Daryl Morey stated that the entrance workplace had one other viable Ben Simmons commerce choice main as much as final Thursday’s deadline. 

“Clearly, a number of choices that we needed to contemplate,” Morey stated on the podcast. “I feel anytime you lock in a single path, one situation, you get in hassle on this league. And it is these different choices that permit you to make the best offers and issues like that. So I’d say we had one different — I’d name it nearly an excellent choice that we preferred, however then it seemed just like the James factor may occur, so.”

Morey stated that, “possibly three or 4 days out,” Philadelphia “fairly closely explored” this thriller deal. “After which, for causes that may reveal who i am speaking about, I can not actually say why it form of shifted, however it shifted.”

Ultimately, if the Harden deal — or one other one that may have given the Sixers “an actual shot” at successful the title — hadn’t materialized, then they might have been OK with standing pat, Morey stated, reiterating the place he has taken since Simmons’ offseason commerce request.

“I feel you guys do not consider me,” Morey stated, “however it’s true: You must be comfy together with your established order. We had a complete plan of convincing Ben to return again to play. Who is aware of how profitable that may have been? It did not appear to make quite a lot of sense to push on that choice till we needed to do it.”

Morey stated that there would have been “quite a lot of persuasion” from the Sixers’ facet: “There was quite a lot of planning. What will probably be stated, who will say it, what conferences. Me, with the, you realize, attempting to persuade Ben to return again. It could have been very demeaning. I’d have been doing no matter it took, let’s simply put it that manner.”

Other than the Harden commerce and the thriller commerce, Morey stated that Philadelphia’s different choices on the deadline would have “simply made us the identical, however made us worse later.”

In numerous interviews courting again to his time with the Houston Rockets, Morey has talked about making selections together with his crew’s championship odds in thoughts. This yr’s Sixers, he stated, had a couple of three-percent probability to win the title earlier than the commerce, with Simmons sitting out, and a couple of five-percent probability factoring within the chance that Simmons may return. After the commerce, he stated, their inner numbers give them championship odds of “round 13 to fifteen” %. 

“I’d say there are 5 groups with nearly the identical odds, which I’ve by no means seen earlier than,” Morey stated. “It is Phoenix, Golden State, us, Milwaukee (and) Brooklyn (that) all have about the identical odds. All someplace within the 12-to-15-percent vary.”

Morey was additionally forthcoming with regards to the buyout market. “We’re most likely going to have one buyout (addition),” he stated. “I feel we’re fairly shut. I am really aggravated we’ve not been capable of announce it but. So, ‘buyout imminent’ — headline!” He even hinted that the buyout man will probably be a giant man.

After the interview, co-hosts Michael Levin and Spike Eskin speculated concerning the thriller commerce: If the goal was Bradley Beal, then maybe it was nixed by the information that Beal wanted season-ending surgical procedure. If the potential commerce concerned the Sacramento Kings, then the deal that despatched Tyrese Haliburton to the Indiana Pacers might need nixed it.

As for the buyout man, hmm! Drew Eubanks and Moses Brown cleared waivers earlier this week. Willie Cauley-Stein has been a free agent for some time. It is clearly not Tristan Thompson, except Rick Carlisle obtained dangerous info.