Everything Bob Myers, Josh Harris Said About Morey's Firing, 76ers' Loss to Knicks, Exec Search

Philadelphia 76ers governor Josh Harris and Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment president Bob Myers—who is overseeing the team's hiring process for a president of basketball operations after Daryl Morey was fired—spoke to the media Thursday to discuss the decision to move on from Morey, what they are seeking in his replacement and more.

"I'm looking to find someone that can check as many of those boxes [speaking to the media, fostering relationships with players and ownerships, the salary cap, analytics, scouting players, etc.] as possible, but also someone who is able to say [what they don't know]," Myers told reporters. "I hope they check all those. But they won't. That doesn't exist. So how do we support them?"

The new hire will join the Sixers with a head coach already in place (Nick Nurse) and a very interesting salary-cap situation to manage.

The Sixers will be extremely top heavy from a salary perspective next year, with Joel Embiid ($57.9 million), Paul George ($54.1 million) and Tyrese Maxey ($40.7 million) soaking up the majority of available cap space. That leaves the Sixers very little wiggle room to build a contender around that trio and rookie standout VJ Edgecombe ($11.6 million).

The huge contracts of Embiid and George, paired with their injury histories, make both essentially impossible to trade without giving up valuable assets to facilitate the deal. Perhaps next summer, when George will be on a $56.5 million player option, a team looking to clear its salary sheet for the 2028-29 campaign might be willing to absorb his expiring contract.

But until then, the Sixers are going to have to make really smart moves on the margins to add depth and athleticism around their core group.

It's somewhat of a moot point, of course, if Embiid and George stay healthy and play at a high level. The Embiid-George-Maxey trio hasn't played much basketball together over the past two seasons. But the Sixers need to prepare for the alternative.

And their new president of basketball operations will be tasked with threading that needle.