Daryl Morey clears air on trading Patrick Beverley citing his 'diminishing role' on 76ers: "We saw his minutes going down"

Philadelphia 76ers general manager Daryl Morey has been under fire after Patrick Beverley revealed what happened behind the scenes at the trade deadline. According to Beverley, Morey told him he wouldn't be traded at the deadline, which left a reassuring feeling on the NBA player.

Beverley was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Cameron Payne at the deadline. The two-way guard revealed what had happened between himself and the Sixers executive. This caused fans to call out Morey for misleading the player, some even bringing back what James Harden said about the general manager during the offseason.

Now, Morey has come out to address what had happened between him and Beverley. He said his relationship with players, player agents, and people around the league was excellent.

"I think Pat, I got a great relationship with him," Morey said (via Sam DiGiovanni). "He's clarified what he said after he said it. So, I think if I was up here with Pat, it would be a very positive conversation.

"We thought this was the best way to build the team, we saw his minutes going down and we thought it was best for him, to be at a place where he can play a big role on a team and here we see that role diminishing."

Morey's defense about Beverley's minutes going down might not be enough to back up his claims. The three-time All-Defensive guard averaged 25.1 minutes in the past ten games for the Sixers.

Comparing that to his first ten games, Beverley only played 16.8 minutes at the start of the season. This proves that the point guard's minutes weren't going down.

You might also be interested in reading this: Is Patrick Beverley playing tonight against Charlotte Hornets? Latest on 3x NBA All-Defense guard's status (February 9)

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Relationship with Damian Lillard is priority to Patrick Beverley

Patrick Beverley has clashed with some of the best players in the league. His competitiveness has caused him to go overboard at times. This time, Beverley has to set his feud with Damian Lillard for him to play well with others.

As he shared the behind-the-scenes story between himself and Morey, he immediately addressed the elephant in the room. Beverley told his fans he needed to fix his relationship with Lillard for the Bucks to contend.

This isn't the first time that it's happened with Beverley. During the summer of 2022, he was traded to the LA Lakers, who had Russell Westbrook. He and Westbrook had past issues competing against each other. Ultimately, they became great teammates while playing for the same team.

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