Key Takeaways: Daryl Morey Interview on The Takeoff with John Clark Podcast
Daryl Morey made a recent appearance on “The Takeoff with John Clark Podcast” addressing a bunch of news surrounding the Philadelphia 76ers heading into the 2022-23 NBA season.
Morey talked in detail about several things, including Harden’s hamstring injury, the acquisitions the Sixers made over the summer, Tyrese Maxey, and Joel Embiid’s decision making within the organization.
The full episode is on YouTube and at the bottom of this article. Definitely worth the time.
Here are some key takeaways from Daryl Morey on The Takeoff with John Clark Podcast
James Harden’s Hamstring Injury:
I’ll say with James, again, more than any player I’ve worked with, he never says something’s wrong. It actually surprised me when he said what he said after the season. For him to say that means there were more issues than he, look, he’s a spit on it, get on the floor, win at whatever cost you can do, go out there and win. He’s been one of the most durable guys in NBA history prior to the hamstring issue. I know he’s worked hard to get it to a great place. It’s in a great place right now, but during our run last year, he’s never going to say, ‘I’m not 100 percent,’ because he doesn’t ever want to give any excuses. Especially during the middle of a playoff run, and he’s also never going to want to indicate to his teammates or the other team that there’s an issue.
So, frankly, throughout my career, we’ve tried to get James to be more open about, ‘Hey, this is hurting’, whatever, just to protect him. For example, in my years with him, he would turn ankles that would send guys out for weeks and just play right away, and then play the next night of a back-to-back. It was impressive. Maybe a little more brave than we needed at times, but you respect that that’s his mindset.
Morey on Signing Montrezl Harrell:
Look, we’ve added a lot of people who’ve worked both with Doc and myself in the past. Trez, everyone likes to make fun of the fact that we have a lot of former Rockets, but Trez had his best years under Doc, 6th Man of the Year, and he really flourished after that Chris Paul trade that brought him to the Clippers and working with Sam Cassell…It’s never like a one-to-one thing. It’s really like, here’s the array of opportunities. I try to go in without a specific thing like, ‘We have to have X’ and, in fact, the Montrezl Harrell signing was one we didn’t think would maybe happen. So we were comfortable going in with what we had. We thought that if there was an issue, we could address it during the season. A long way of saying having a player like Montrezl or with a skill set like that, we’d love to have. We just didn’t think it would come now. I would guess it’d come more in February or so. So you look at all the opportunities.
Daryl Morey on PJ Tucker:
There are certain players who work well with James so it’s natural to maybe look for that fit. Similar with Joel who just finished playing a series with PJ Tucker. PJ was able to really impact that series in a lot of ways with his toughness, with his high-level defense, with his energy on the floor, with his offensive rebounding, and Joel correctly said, ‘Hey, we could use a guy like that’, but at no point did Joel Embiid say, ‘We have to have PJ Tucker.’ He happened to be available. If he hadn’t been a free agent, then we would’ve had to move in a different direction. It might’ve been a completely different direction from a PJ Tucker. It might’ve been a different profile. Again, I think if you go in like, ‘We have to get X,’ that’s where you overpay. That’s where you create constraints for your ability to improve the team later.
Frankly, PJ Tucker, if you look at players similar to him, should’ve been out of the league four years ago. Almost no one who plays the type of game he plays is still playing at 37. So we’re already in this space of nobody knows. We’re obviously trying to win now. I’m not as worried about 40. I think I would never bet against PJ Tucker. Anyone who’s ever bet against him has been wrong and he keeps winning. So I don’t know what he’s going to be at 40. PJ, he knows he’s going to be great at 40. I know he believes it. I think everyone else doesn’t know, but we feel good. Even if maybe his body betrays him a little bit going forward, I still know he’s going to bring energy and he’s going to be an unbelievable guy to have on a roster. All of that said, he’s already in this place where nobody knows the next steps.
Normally, you can look at players who play like him at 32, how will they look at 34? You can look at those things. There’s 100 players, 200 players like that. There’s literally a data set of one person who looks like PJ Tucker that’s still helping teams win championships at age 36, 37. Almost all of them are these former multi-time All-Stars, to make it to that age, and frankly, PJ Tucker is an All-Star at his role. Maybe in 50 years guys like him are All-Stars because people recognize the contribution they make.
Morey on PJ Tucker’s Age and How He Fits on the 76ers:
Frankly, PJ Tucker, if you look at players similar to him, should’ve been out of the league four years ago. Almost no one who plays the type of game he plays is still playing at 37. So we’re already in this space of nobody knows. We’re obviously trying to win now. I’m not as worried about 40. I think I would never bet against PJ Tucker. Anyone who’s ever bet against him has been wrong and he keeps winning. So I don’t know what he’s going to be at 40. PJ, he knows he’s going to be great at 40. I know he believes it. I think everyone else doesn’t know, but we feel good. Even if maybe his body betrays him a little bit going forward, I still know he’s going to bring energy and he’s going to be an unbelievable guy to have on a roster. All of that said, he’s already in this place where nobody knows the next steps.
Normally, you can look at players who play like him at 32, how will they look at 34? You can look at those things. There’s 100 players, 200 players like that. There’s literally a data set of one person who looks like PJ Tucker that’s still helping teams win championships at age 36, 37. Almost all of them are these former multi-time All-Stars, to make it to that age, and frankly, PJ Tucker is an All-Star at his role. Maybe in 50 years guys like him are All-Stars because people recognize the contribution they make.
Morey on Joel Embiid’s Decision Making Within The 76ers Organization
I think Joel wants to win. I’ve had a lot of great players. So I’d say like right there with all the great players I’ve worked with. What I would say he is a little bit unique and that I love. He puts a lot of faith into coach Rivers and myself and the front office and Elton Brand to really just do our jobs. I think he’s just hanging back so he can criticize us later, but look, he’ll give like general things like he did after the season. You saw like, ‘Hey, I think we need these elements’, but he’s not one to like get in there and be like, I want this player or that player. He really doesn’t. He trusts just like we trust him on the floor at key moments and all season. He trusts that we’re doing the work to find the right players to add and, of course, he’s always appraised. I think it’s always best to keep your top players Tobias (Harris), James, him engaged and knowing what we’re trying to acquire and who’s maybe coming and it’s come down to these two players, but I would say Joel less than most of the star players I’ve worked with will hang back and be like, ‘Hey, I know you guys did the work. Go with whoever you think is best.’
Morey on Tyrese Maxey:
He’s key to our season. Obviously, the new players on the team, I think, are two-way players, and they are going to set the stage, but winning the title really comes down to your best players, and probably the key things are we need Joel to yet again give us an MVP-level performance. We need James to be just himself. We don’t even need five years ago James. We need the guy we saw last year for most of the games, but the biggest inflection point is probably we need Maxey to take another step forward and he can do it. He’s putting the work in. Look, it’s really hard. His rookie year was way ahead of schedule. His second year was way, way ahead of schedule and to ask him to do another leap forward is asking a lot, but we do need it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he does it given how much time he puts in.
Full Episode
