Trade Deadline Losers: Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers had a strange trade deadline. First, they swapped Marcus Morris, Furkan Korkmaz, and three seconds for Buddy Hield, who is one of the best shooters in the NBA. That's good. They also shipped out Daniel House Jr. to the Knicks for a second-round pick, recouping one of the seconds that they traded.
Also, good. However, they then followed that up by moving Patrick Beverly to the Milwaukee Bucks for a less valuable player in Cam Payne. To their credit, they did pick up another second but lost a useful role player who has both helped them and given them some grit. Those things can be replaced but it appears that team president Daryl Morey specifically told Beverly that he wouldn't be traded, only to trade him days later.
Conversation between Patrick Beverley and 76ers GM Daryl Morey 2 weeks ago, per @patbevpod:
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) February 8, 2024
Pat Bev: “Am I getting traded?”
Morey: “You? No no, not you… of course not.”
Pat Bev was traded to the Bucks today. 🥶 pic.twitter.com/yguCxNzfxe
It's a business; we all get that but Morey was accused of lying to Chris Paul back in Houston and, more famously, James Harden. Where there's smoke, there's fire and Morey may be developing a reputation that could hurt the Sixers.
The Sixers are expected to pursue Kyle Lowry once he hits the buyout market from the Hornets, per @wojespn (https://t.co/5oZxwSpT9A).
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) February 9, 2024
Philadelphia needs another point guard, and the interest appears to be mutual. pic.twitter.com/F5AHmFj2lF
The Sixers can have significant cap space this summer, but players talk, and his reputation may come back to bite them as they look to build around Embiid. Worse yet, the 76ers have been linked to Kyle Lowry, which may have been why Morey lied to Beverly.