Recreating the 2018 Houston Rockets Isn’t My Favorite Idea

Daryl Morey, the Sixers President of Basketball Operations, is one of the most aggressive front office men in basketball. If he believes that something will work, he’s been known to do anything he can to get it done. This was the case in February, when the Sixers acquired James Harden.

 

Now, with the draft just one day away and the offseason officially set to begin next week, Morey seems inclined to rebuild the core of his old Houston Rockets teams. That 2018 Rockets squad was really good. Surrounded by superstar James Harden, the Rockets fell one win short of reaching the NBA Finals and dethroning one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history, the Golden State Warriors.

 

While that 2018 Rockets squad was elite in many ways, the year 2018 in NBA terms may as well have been an entire millennium ago. Harden is nowhere near the level of player now that he was then, in his MVP season. That, combined with the slew of reasons I’ll list below, makes the idea of attempting to remake that squad in Philly for the years of our lord 2022 and 2023 a little confusing.

 

Morey Doesn’t Value Late First Rounders, Neither Do I

 

It’s become abundantly clear that Daryl Morey plans to trade the Sixers first-round pick, #23 overall, before they go on the clock Thursday night. When it comes to NBA draft picks, hardly ever does a player taken after the lottery end up making a huge difference to the team he was originally drafted by, unless you’re Tyrese Maxey.

 

A late first round pick is usually a player that a team needs to be patient with. Ironically enough, the teams drafting in the back half of the first round usually don’t have the time or roster space to waste on a project when they’re trying to win a title. That’s the spot the Sixers find themselves in at this point.

 

Morey is no stranger to trading draft picks, having traded three of the Sixers future first-rounders in just two seasons. In each of those deals, though, trading the picks was an afterthought. In the first deal, Morey traded the Sixers 2025 first rounder (top 6 protected) to acquire Danny Green from Oklahoma City. In all honesty though, the reason that pick was included was to sweeten the deal of offering Al Horford’s albatros of a contract.

 

Thunder general manager Sam Presti would probably kill a puppy if it meant he got another first round pick, so I doubt Morey had to do much convincing there. As a Sixers fan, you’re more than okay with this deal because it rids you of Horford’s contract, his face on your television, and his family on your Twitter timelines.

 

The next instance of Morey saying sayonara to first round picks was in the aforementioned deal for Harden in February. Again, those picks were merely an afterthought, because the Sixers thought they were getting a surefire superstar in return while giving up an All-NBA Australian headache. While the latter remains true, the former is up in the air at this point especially given the financial aspect.

 

A Matter Of What/When, Not If

 

All this to say, Morey has no attachment to draft picks and has no issue with trading them for veteran players to help fill out the roster. At this point it’s not a matter of “if” Morey trades the pick, it’s a matter of what the Sixers will be getting in return. If Morey is offering that pick plus a player like Matisse Thybulle or Danny Green, the return could be something noteworthy.

 

 

The rumor among NBA circles is that the Sixers are zeroing in on trading for Eric Gordon from the Houston Rockets. This would make sense seeing as though Gordon is a veteran role player who is looking to win championships at this stage of his career, and the Rockets don’t exactly offer him that opportunity.

 

Also, it’s been reported that the Rockets are trying to pull a Sam Presti (his second mention in this blog) and stockpile as many first round picks in this draft as possible. That would make sense, considering they shipped Christian Wood (Sixers legend) to Dallas for a barrage of middling players and a late first rounder a week ago.

 

I’m torn on the idea of acquiring Gordon. I like it for the fact that his style of play would fit in pretty nicely next to Harden and Joel Embiid. In Harden’s MVP season in 2018, Gordon averaged a career high 18 points per game. Last season, Gordon shot 41% from three playing on a truly horrid Rockets team. Gordon’s not terribly old either (age 33), despite going into his 15th NBA season.

 

The problem for me, however, is that Gordon will be owed over $40 million over the next two seasons. Gordon’s a solid role player who would likely fit in great with this team. I just don’t love the idea of paying a guy $20 million a year who’s on the wrong side of 30 and has never played a full season in his NBA career.

 

I like the idea of trading the pick along with Thybulle for a proven shooter, given that Thybulle seems to have reached his career ceiling after just three seasons. He’s a great defender (although maybe not as great as we thought) who, to put it simply, is an absolute liability on the offensive end of the floor.

 

Think T.J. McConnell in the playoffs, but worse. Teams would let Thybulle stand in the corner and wait for him to hit the rim in a way that would create a sound no other NBA rim has ever made before. On a team that relies heavily on three point shooting, Thybulle is clearly no longer an asset.

 

All-in-all, I like the idea of trading Thybulle and the pick. Yet, I would have to be talked into the idea of Eric Gordon coming off the bench at that kind of salary.

 

The P.J. Tucker Of It All

 

The idea of P.J. Tucker is better than the reality of P.J. Tucker. Fans and teams alike love Tucker for his tenacity, toughness, willingness to play great defense, and ability to hit corner 3’s. Tucker’s personality would be a perfect marriage for the city of Philadelphia.

 

Much like his former Houston teammate Eric Gordon, Tucker is also coming off of a season where he shot a career high 41% from beyond the arc, something that is obviously attractive to the Sixers. His scoring average with Miami was also the highest it’s been since his 2015-16 season with Phoenix. Embiid also said point blank that the Sixers need a guy like Tucker in his final post game press conference, so clearly the star player is on board.

 

This all sounds like good news, right? What exactly is the issue with the Sixers targeting a guy like this?

 

 

…oh.

 

It’s not so much the possible $10 million per year to a player that’s never averaged more than 9.5 points per game that bothers me. It’s not even the fact that the Sixers will surely be the only team in the league to offer Tucker that kind of money, something he’d be a certified psycho to turn down. It’s the fact that Morey is reportedly so willing to give a 37-year-old a three-year contract.

 

Yes, Tucker is a fantastic role player who has been the embodiment of championship pedigree over the past two seasons with Milwaukee and Miami. I’m just not sure how you can justify paying Tucker $10 million a year for the next three years in the twilight of his career, while also planning to bring in Gordon who’s on a $20 million per year deal of his own.

 

If you read between the lines, this almost certainly means Morey plans on getting rid of Tobias Harris and his ludacris contract that pays him $36 million per season. Even still, I’m not really sure if the Sixers are better off with Gordon and Tucker on those contracts toward the end of their careers instead of Harris, who’s still in his prime.

 

Obviously, if Harris were dealt by the Sixers they would be getting a decent player in return on top of possibly Tucker and Gordon. There’s just something about the possibility of those moves that doesn’t really sit right with me, and I don’t know why. It’s not like I’ve been the biggest supporter of Harris over the past few seasons, and I do think it’d probably be in the best interest of the Sixers to move on from his contract. I’m just not sure if Tucker and Gordon are the right replacements.

 

Even still, these are all just rumors, and nothing is set in stone until something actually happens. Like I said before, though, when Morey really wants something, he tends to get what he wants. In his short time in Philly, he’s already shown he’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen, too.

By Matt Szczypiorski | June 22, 2022
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