CAMDEN, NJ — Following the NBA's trade deadline, Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey held a press conference to address the media. The Sixers made multiple moves in the final days leading up to the deadline, including trading Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder and Eric Gordon to the Memphis Grizzlies.
The most frequently discussed topic was the decision to move McCain to acquire what is projected to be a late first-round pick and three additional second-rounders.
Morey began his media availability by thanking McCain for his time in Philadelphia— as he also did for Eric Gordon—and addressing the decision-making process that led to the deal.
In Morey's opening monologue, he addressed the reasoning behind the trade before he could be asked, suggesting that the plan was to acquire assets for McCain to use in an additional deal to add a player who could make an impact, but the team was simply unable to find a deal they found suitable after trading away McCain.
According to Daryl Morey, not initially, but the team received multiple offers for him that ultimately led to a deal, and the team feels they capitalized at the right time.
The Sixers received four future draft picks in exchange for Jared McCain. Three of the picks are future second-rounders, which the team has a strong history with. They have previously used second-round picks to add contributors like Adem Bona and also attached picks to move off negative-value assets, as the team did when they traded away two second-rounders to move off the contract of KJ Martin at last year's deadline.
As for the primary draft asset received, a first-round pick in the 2026 via the Houston Rockets—expected to convey around the mid 20s come draft day, Morey says the focus was not inherently on adding a pick in this year's draft, and that the team is keeping their options open with any and all trade assets, including the four recently acquired picks.
"That wasn't the main focus," Morey said of acquiring a pick in this year's draft. "I think it's a nice focus, because we do think this draft is a good draft, but we're not necessarily using the pick in this draft. It could be used for moves around the draft. The three seconds that we got with it, we think could be used to move up in this draft."
For the fourth straight season, the Sixers have made financial decisions at the trade deadline that have directly led to them going below the luxury tax threshold.
Morey was asked directly how much staying below the luxury tax was a consideration in the team's approach to the deadline.
"If we had found an [addition] and we were going to end up higher, we would have ended up above [the luxury tax]," Morey said. "We've done it several times when I was here over the history of ownership; they've done it many times. We didn't see something that did that, and then we're under the normal pressures that every team is feeling, the CBA with the first apron to sign Barlow to [a standard NBA] deal, things like that."
Morey is correct in that the team has previously moved assets to add at the trade deadline, most notably trading for James Harden in 2022 and Buddy Hield ahead of the 2024 NBA trade deadline.
He is also technically correct that the team has previously operated as an above-the-tax team during his tenure, though that was mostly a consequence of the previous regime's financial decisions. In the previous four seasons, the team has jumped financial hoops to avoid the luxury tax threshold.
Was getting below the tax the sole reason behind the decision?
There's plenty of evidence to suggest it is not, however, to suggest that the organization is not pleased to have seemingly, in their opinion, sold high on a player while creating future flexibility both in asset acquisition and financially speaking, is simply not something many would be from the fans to players to those further removed from the situation.
