Sportskeeda Exclusive: NBA insider on Sixers discussing to improve "toughness" in long run, and focusing on solving the James Harden problem
Behind the scenes, Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey plans to conduct meetings with Head Coach Doc Rivers as well as the other members of the coaching staff as they begin to identify a strategic plan to improve the team, which has not advanced out of the second round of the playoffs since 2001.
While Morey has a vision on what he wants to accomplish this off-season and next month in the NBA draft, he is expected to hear input from Rivers and his coaching staff, as they are expected to weigh in and have input on their specific needs.
While it’s extremely early in the evaluation process, a key area the Sixers want to address is toughness. Mental toughness and physical toughness are characteristics that Morey and even Philadelphia 76ers players hope to add, to help get them over the hump in the NBA playoffs.
Without giving too much away on their specific plans, Morey even loosely touched on the subject days ago in their season-ending press conference.
“We need some of that toughness, Morey said. “We've got a lot of resources. We've got a lot of flexibility from ownership. Everything's being provided and we did not achieve what we want, which is a championship. We're not afraid to talk about it. That is the goal. We have one of the best, if not the best, players on the planet.”
The Sixers front office and Rivers believe a healthy Joel Embiid, who was the runner-up in the NBA MVP voting, along with James Harden, will go a long way in helping them take that next step, as they chase their first NBA Championship since 1983.
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The Sixers plan to bring back Harden, and Harden wants to return to Philadelphia, but there is a lot to sort out between the Sixers and the 32-year-old. Harden has a player option for next season, and the 76ers are not expected to offer the 10-time NBA All-Star a max contract.
Both sides have publicly sounded optimistic a deal can be worked out at some point to make way for Harden to stay with the Sixers.
“That’s the plan. That’s been the plan since the trade,” Morey said of wanting Harden back next year. “Obviously we have to work with his representation, and that’ll be between us to figure out how that works.”
If exercised, Harden’s player option for next season would pay him a base salary of $47,366,760, while carrying a cap hit of $47,366,760 and a dead cap value of $50,422,680.
“We think a full year of James [Harden], we can unlock what he brings us. That said, we know we have to improve,” - Morey said.
The Sixers front office believes things will work out better if Harden has a full offseason and a full season with Embiid and the team, as well as Rivers, after coming over in a mid-season trade from the Brooklyn Nets.
Daryl Morey wants to improve the Sixers' defense this offseason
Another area Morey would like to improve is the Sixers defense. Whether he can pull off another blockbuster deal for another star to team up with Embiid and Harden remains to be seen, but there are major salary cap roadblocks that would need to be sorted out.
The NBA salary cap for next season is estimated to be around 122 million dollars, which as it stands, the Sixers are way over the projected figure.
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Ironing out Harden’s contract will likely be the first order of business before the dominos fall in place for the Sixers this offseason.
If Morey does not identify and land a big name in free agency or via trade, he takes pride in finding spark plugs off the bench and key role players to compliment his stars. While Morey loves making the big splash, behind the scenes he loves hitting big with role players. Over his career, Morey has had a sharp eye for underrated and undervalued talent.
The 76ers don’t want to make any emotional or rash decisions as they are still upset at their early playoff exit, but once the dust settles key decisions need to be made with the NBA Draft set for June 23rd, and the new league year to follow.