Report: Daryl Morey's 76ers Contract Believed to Exceed $10M Annually
The Philadelphia 76ers have reportedly been after Daryl Morey for two years, and they paid top dollar to finally get him this offseason.
Marc Stein of the New York Times reported he'll be costing them potentially over $60 million over five years:
"Industry insiders estimate that Morey received a salary in excess of $10 million annually. Specific figures were not announced, but some insist that the deal tops the five-year, $60 million contract that Phil Jackson reportedly received when he was named team president by the Knicks. The Sixers, citing team policy, declined to discuss the contract specifics when asked this week."
The Sixers haven't cut any corners this offseason after a disappointing 2019-20 campaign that saw them eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, signing Doc Rivers to a five-year deal to take over as head coach, signing general manager Elton Brand to an extension and adding executives Peter Dinwiddie and Prosper Karangwa.
Rivers has also made some splashy additions to his coaching staff, including former player and Los Angeles Clippers assistant Sam Cassell and former head coach Dave Joerger.
The real question, however, is how Morey, Brand and the front office will rework an unbalanced roster with a number of good players that simply don't fit together. Young stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons seem unlikely to go anywhere—even with Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reporting Tuesday that the team will pursue James Harden—but players like Al Horford, Josh Richardson and to a lesser extent Tobias Harris could be shopped.
By the end of last year, Horford had been relegated to a backup center role when the Sixers were fully healthy. Having him, Embiid and Simmons on the court together simply doesn't work. Richardson, meanwhile, is a good player but doesn't quite have the skill sets the Sixers need in the backcourt (either a quality lead ball-handler who can consistently generate their own offense or a high-level spot-up shooter).
Harris is a better fit as a stretch-4, and his huge contract will likely make him impossible to trade anyway.
The Sixers have some potential sweeteners (multiple draft picks, young players like Matisse Thybulle or Shake Milton, though Philly would likely prefer to keep Milton given his solid fit with Embiid and Simmons) to attach in a trade for Horford. It won't be easy to move off of Horford's big deal, but a team looking for a veteran center could do worse.
Suffice to say, the Sixers will yet again be a fascinating team to monitor. Morey is going to have a pretty busy offseason ahead of him.
