IF SIXERS GIVE HARDEN 4 YEARS, $210M, MOREY SHOULD HAVE HIS HEAD EXAMINED!
By Tommy Matthews
So Sixers big boss Daryl Morey met with the media yesterday in the wake of the meltdown in games 6 and 7 against Boston and the Monday firing of coach Doc Rivers.
Morey danced around a lot of questions, but none more than the biggest:
Will he overpay to keep James Harden and his aging and diminishing skillset?
Morey has been in love with Harden since they were in Houston together, and he moved heaven and earth to trade for the future Hall of Fame guard in exchange for Bullshit Ben Simmons.
Harden is opting out of his $35 million last year from the Sixers, and he will be a free agent.
Will any team give him a four-year deal for $210 million?
It sounds like Morey hasn’t ruled that out.
As Marcus Hayes of the Inky says:
Harden can opt out of his current contract and become a free agent.
The Sixers would love for him to opt in for $35.6 million, but a report says he’s not going to, and he’d be foolish to do so. That’s because at least one suitor — Morey — clearly is willing to throw a max contract at him. The Sixers could pay him the most: four years and $210 million.
If they offer and he agrees, they’ll be paying him more than $50 million a year for his 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th seasons.
He’ll be 37 in his final season, and he’d be stealing money. Romeo and Juliet?
Morey is in love with the guy who shot 25.9% from the field, hit 9.1% of his three-pointers, and scored 22 total points in the franchise’s two biggest games since 2001.
How bad was it? In Games 6 and 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Harden hit just seven shots but committed 10 turnovers.
Morey is smitten with the guy who said, after shooting 4-for-16 and taking two shots in the second half of the Game 6 collapse in the Eastern Conference semifinal:
“I’m not gonna look at my shooting percentage. I did see a lot of really good things offensively.” Also, Harden blamed the refs.
