Analyzing The Sixers Disappointing Offseason (So Far)

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* this article was written prior to the Paul Reed offer sheet with the Utah Jazz.

Seven weeks ago, the Philadelphia 76ers were eliminated in humiliating fashion by the Boston Celtics. Since then, they have made the following transactions:

* Let Georges Niang, Jalen McDaniels, and Shake Milton walk in free agency
* Signed Patrick Beverley and Mo Bamba to minimum contracts
* Re-signed Montrezl Harrell
* Entered into a hostage situation with James Harden in which he has opted into his contract and requested a trade

For anyone who was hoping for major changes, this off-season has been a major letdown so far. To be fair to Daryl Morey, there is plenty of time left, and there are likely other dominos left to fall, but suffice it to say that very few Sixers fans are feeling better about the team than they were a few weeks ago.

With how disappointing this offseason has been so far, I’ve had a few angry takes boiling that I’d like to get off my chest. Let’s dive in.

The impending misery of the James Harden stand-off

Now more than a week into the James Harden hostage situation, I am struck by how bizarre this entire ordeal is and how little I know about it. As many ways as there are to look at this situation, I think it boils down to only two real possibilities: one where Harden is serious about his trade request, and one where he is unserious about his trade request.

It’s possible – perhaps likely – that Harden’s opt in plus trade request was more whimsical and emotional than first thought. Perhaps he was simply frustrated by the lack of interest he drew on the open market, as well as the Sixers’ unwillingness to max him out, and the trade request was his way of preserving his pride.

If that is the case, and everyone can calm down, regroup, and get one more year of last year’s version of Harden, then sure, whatever, he can come back. I still think the team would require major changes elsewhere if they want to contend for a title, but it’s not a total nightmare to have Harden back on a reasonable contract for one more year. We would look back and laugh at how stupid all of this was, but the net product would be totally fine.

If he is serious about his trade request, though? My God, I cannot put into words how miserable this is all about to be. Even if I can reason my way into thinking this is the best possible outcome for their long term championship odds, this is all going to be deeply unenjoyable and frustrating as a fan.

Daryl Morey has more than proven his willingness to get uncomfortable to get what he wants, you know who else has proven their willingness to get uncomfortable? James Harden. I do not want to experience Harden in saboteur mode like he was in Houston and Brooklyn. I didn’t want James Harden back at all – let alone unhappy saboteur James Harden. I don’t want to have to spend the next two (seven? 10?!) months interpreting propaganda leaks through the media to figure out how unhappy everyone is and what each side is angling for. I want Nick Nurse to have the chance to build an actual team identity, not have to massage Harden’s ego, adapt around his poor habits, and try to convince him to do the bare minimum as he angles for a trade.

All of this bullshit, by the way, would be a lot easier to stomach if the Sixers gave us any reason whatsoever to believe that it would be worth it, and that there would be a championship run waiting for us on the other side of this. If Morey mistakenly tries to call Harden’s bluff, and Harden makes this situation as messy as his Houston and Brooklyn exits, it just be another embarrassing off-court saga for a team that continues to win more headlines than basketball games.

The Sixers can’t win a title. They can’t even put an enjoyable, cohesive team on the floor. All they can do is produce nonsensical saga after nonsensical saga and give every fan gray hairs from trying to follow along. It’s exhausting, and it all needs to stop.

So long, Niang, Milton, and McDaniels (and maybe Reed)

If you told me that on July 7th, the only pending free agent that the Sixers would have re-signed is Montrezl Harrell, I would have been shocked. Actually – shocked is too kind. I would have been disgusted.

(By the way: I wonder how big of a factor Harrell’s friendship with Harden was in deciding to keep him. Between Beverley, House, Tucker, and Harrell, Morey likely has acquired the four biggest Harden stans in the league. I wonder how many more of Harden’s friends Morey will sign in order to convince him to rescind his trade request.)

Georges Niang was a good Sixer, but that contract was an overpay and the Sixers were wise to let him walk. I’ll always appreciate Shake Milton for kinda-sorta saving the 2020 season, but he was never going to have a role here with how many guards they have. Jalen McDaniels is the more puzzling one, and the one that many Sixers fans seem to be frustrated with.

At first, I wondered if not signing McDaniels was a conscious decision in order to save up enough cap space to have access to the full MLE after a Harden or Tobias trade. But with a trade looking less and less likely, and all of the good MLE candidates off the board, I’m now left scratching my head at what the thought process was here.

To be clear, McDaniels was an unrestricted free agent, and could have rejected any offer the Sixers made with no recourse for the team to have. But with the Sixers having his bird rights, Niang walking, Tucker aging, and hiring a coach with a fetish for 6-foot-8 wings, I am dumbfounded as to why the Sixers wouldn’t top the relatively modest offer that Toronto gave him. It is just the latest in another string of moves in which this team can’t seem to hit on small trades on the margins.

To be clear: I have no regrets about trading Matisse Thybulle. Thybulle absolutely, positively, motherfucking stinks. Anyone who thinks he would have helped them against the Celtics is out of their mind – he was benched three years ago against the Celtics when the Sixers had even fewer wings. A central storyline of the end of this year’s series was how difficult it was to work around P.J. Tucker’s subpar shooting, but sure, Thybulle’s would have been fine. He was horrible in the Atlanta and Miami series – he was a nonfactor in slowing down Trae Young and Jimmy Butler, and was his usual klutzy self on offense. He never improved at a single thing since coming into the league, and if anything, became less valuable on defense as teams figured out his gimmicky style. The only regret you should have is that the team didn’t trade Thybulle sooner, when he still had some semblance of value.

Regardless, losing McDaniels was sort of a tone setter for the Sixers’ offseason so far – nothing too catastrophic, but just a total dud that leaves you feeling empty inside. The best case scenario for the offseason at this point would be running back last year’s team with inferior depth, and that is not something that any Sixers fan would have wanted coming out of that Celtics series.