Are the Sixers finally bringing back the black Allen Iverson-era jerseys? are,the,sixers,finally,bringing,back,the,black,allen,iverson,era,jerseys,liberty,ballers,front-page,76ers-news


The Sixers have been giving fans everything they want so far this offseason — why not keep the hits coming?

The team on Sunday released a video capturing a tribute to Tyrese Maxey, whose five-year max extension became official earlier in the day.

The video itself is quite cool, as everyone from Joel Embiid to Dawn Staley to Dr. J heap praise on the first-time All-Star and the NBA’s Most Improved Player during a whole Maxey-centric event.

What will excite Sixers fans more though is a glimpse of a possible new (old) jersey for the 2024-25 season.

Could it be? Will the Sixers finally bring back the black jerseys from the Allen Iverson era?

As we’re all painfully aware, the Sixers took a big swing and a miss on the last black jerseys they produced in 2020-21, which featured Boathouse Row. To make matters worse, they teased the jerseys and used Iverson in the campaign, only to reveal … those. It would’ve been a great year to bring the original black uniforms back too. It was the 20th anniversary of the 2000-01 team Iverson dragged to the NBA Finals.

While there is nothing official here, teasing the fans by flashing these pictures around and not coming through would be crazy. It appears there’s a good chance we get to see Maxey, Embiid and Paul George rocking the jerseys that A.I. once made look so cool.

2024 NBA free agency: Sixers to reportedly sign veteran wing Caleb Martin away from Heat; waive Paul Reed nba,free,agency,sixers,to,reportedly,sign,veteran,wing,caleb,martin,away,from,heat,waive,paul,reed,liberty,ballers,front-page,nba-free-agency,76ers-free-agency-rumors-news


The Sixers aren’t done yet.

The team will reportedly sign veteran wing Caleb Martin to a four-year, $32 million deal. To gain the necessary cap space, the Sixers will waive Paul Reed. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to report the signing and Reed being waived. The final year of Martin’s deal is a player option, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

In Martin, the Sixers get a battle-tested and versatile wing. He averaged a career-best 10.0 point per game last season, though the volatility with Miami’s roster likely contributed to a drop in efficiency. He shot just 43.1% from the field and 34.9% from deep, his lowest marks since 2020-21.

Though Martin has consistently raised his level of play in the postseason. His best stretch might’ve occurred during the Heat’s surprising run to the Finals in 2023. He averaged 12.7 points per game that postseason on 65.7% true shooting. He saved his best performances for the Eastern Conference Finals, where he averaged 19.3 points in seven games against the Boston Celtics. Across 28 playoff games the past two seasons, Martin has averaged 12.5 points per game on 51.8/42.6/85.0 shooting splits.

Aside from the offense, Martin is a super versatile defender. At 6-foot-5 and with a 6-foot-10 wingspan, he’s capable of guarding one through four. That could be key for the Sixers as the roster currently lacks any real players that fit the four position. Martin is plenty capable of scaling up. With Martin, Paul George and Kelly Oubre, Jr., the Sixers’ potential starting group features a switchable and talented defensive trio of wings.

As simplistic as it sounds, Martin is able to dribble, pass, shoot and defend. Oftentimes it’s felt like the Sixers had so many players who were specialists of some kind. Martin offers plenty of versatility in a sport that’s becoming increasingly positionless.

Martin, who went to NC State before transferring to Nevada, is now 28 years old. He spent his first two seasons with the Charlotte Hornets before spending the last three in Miami. His twin brother, Cody, is currently with the Hornets.

For the Sixers and Reed, it’s surely a little bittersweet. The big man from DePaul was a draft success story for the team. Reed was the third-to-last pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, signed a two-way deal with the Sixers and went on to win the G League Rookie of the Year and MVP. After a successful postseason run in 2023, Reed signed an offer sheet with the Utah Jazz that the Sixers matched. After a difficult season in 2023-24, a clause in the contract that was meant to hurt the Sixers actually helped them. With the team failing to make the second round, Reed’s $7.7 million cap hit became non-guaranteed.

All the Sixers’ reported moves, including their agreement with Paul George, can become official starting at 12:01 p.m. Saturday. With Martin, the team will have nine players either officially under contract or agreed to terms. Second-round pick Adem Bona would make 10. Expect a bunch of minimum deals to come shortly.

2024 NBA free agency: After aggressive start, it feels like Morey is being patient in filling out Sixers roster nba,free,agency,after,aggressive,start,it,feels,like,morey,is,being,patient,in,filling,out,sixers,roster,liberty,ballers,front-page,76ers-free-agency-rumors-news


Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last few days, you know the Sixers have been quite busy.

They worked quickly at the start of free agency to secure agreements from big man Andre Drummond and veteran bucket-getter Eric Gordon. They took care of some in-house business by re-signing Kelly Oubre, Jr., who gave the team strong minutes last season, and giving budding superstar Tyrese Maxey a well-deserved max extension. And, of course, they landed the biggest fish on the market agreeing to terms with Paul George on a max deal.

Since we got word that George would be joining Maxey, Joel Embiid and the Sixers, things have gotten quiet.

Almost too quiet.

The Sixers will reportedly lose the services of key role players Nicolas Batum and De’Anthony Melton. They’re also reportedly working on a sign-and-trade that will send Buddy Hield to the Warriors. Beyond that, there haven’t been many rumors about what the Sixers could do next.

That almost feels purposeful for Daryl Morey. After coming out of the gates aggressive, it seems like the long-time executive is waiting out the market, looking for his opportunity to pounce when the time is right.

As of now, the Sixers have eight players who are either signed or have reportedly agreed to terms. Embiid, Maxey, George, Drummond and Gordon will be here. Paul Reed’s deal is not guaranteed and it feels like his time in Philly could be nearing an end, whether it’s a trade or being waived. Ricky Council IV is also on a non-guaranteed deal, but there have been no indications the Sixers will look to move on from the young wing.

The team also has first-round pick Jared McCain and second-round pick Adem Bona, both of whom appear to be penciled in for standard NBA contracts. Factoring them in — and figuring Reed will not be here — it seems like the Sixers have nine players and six spots to fill. As of now, assuming Reed is waived and all the reported deals are accurate, the team will have roughly $8.9 million in cap space to use.

Who they could use that space on is complicated. There have been rumors about a possible trade for Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith, but that appears unlikely to happen (at least right now). They’ve been connected to two Miami Heat forwards: Caleb Martin and former Sixer Haywood Highsmith. After that, you’re looking at veteran minimum deals to fill out the roster (a Dario Saric reunion, anyone?). There is also a strong likelihood Morey uses a CBA quirk to his advantage to give KJ Martin a balloon deal for the purposes of trading him during the season, as our Bryan Toporek shrewdly pointed out Tuesday morning.

If the Sixers went that route — waive Reed, sign Highsmith/Caleb Martin to a $6-8 million deal for 2024-25, then fill out the roster with minimum players and went ahead with that plan with KJ Martin — that would largely be seen as a great outcome.

But, Reed hasn’t been waived yet. Martin has not signed a balloon deal. There are also scant details about the Hield-to-Warriors sign-and-trade as of this posting.

Insert Brian Windhorst meme

Much has been made of the new CBA and the second apron becoming the new team-building boogeyman. Toporek, again, has been all over that angle for a while now for LB. The consensus seems to be the new rules are mostly hurting the NBA “middle class.” It’s almost like teams valuing threes and dunks — they want stars and cheap role players.

Why is this relevant? Well, perhaps Morey, with a bunch of roster spots to fill, sees the market drying up for these types of players and senses an opportunity to wait things out. Oubre didn’t sign until September last year and took a minimum deal because the market dried up. That seemed to work out quite well for the Sixers. This year, it feels like more players could fall into this category.

The other thought is that there are still major trades that could take place at any time. There’s been plenty of smoke around previously-reported Sixers target Brandon Ingram of the New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen. The Sixers are extremely unlikely to trade for either one this summer, but maybe they get in on the fallout of those deals.

Think about this: Jrue Holiday wasn’t traded to the Celtics until Oct. 1 of last year after the Damian Lillard-to-the-Bucks blockbuster. That’s not to say Morey should wait that long or that the player whom he could potentially acquire would be of that caliber. It’s simply to say sometimes a patient approach is the way to go.

Morey came out swinging to get George. Now, he appears to be biding his time to build out the ideal roster around his stars.

The first apron would complicate a Dorian Finney-Smith trade for the Sixers with the Nets the,first,apron,would,complicate,a,dorian,finney,smith,trade,for,the,sixers,with,the,nets,liberty,ballers,front-page,nba-free-agency,76ers-analysis,76ers-free-agency-rumors-news,76ers-trade-rumors


Once the Sixers finalize their signing of Paul George, their $60-plus million in cap space will be a thing of the past. Based on current projections—which are fluid at this time of year—they’ll be left with roughly $8.9 million in cap space to spend if they waive Paul Reed while keeping Ricky Council IV on their books. (If they keep KJ Martin’s cap hold to perform some CBA shenanigans, they’d have $8.0 million.)

After the Sixers spend that cap space, sign Tyrese Maxey to his max contract, re-sign Kelly Oubre Jr. (presumably with the room mid-level exception) and fill out their roster with minimum contracts, they’ll be perilously close to the $178.1 million first apron. That’s something to keep in mind while proposing solutions to their current vacancy at power forward.

Brooklyn Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith gained steam in recent days as a possible Sixers trade target, and Michael Scotto of HoopsHype poured gas on that fire earlier this week. He reported the Sixers have “exploratory interest” in trading for Finney-Smith, although he noted “nothing is considered imminent there.”

The NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement may be the main reason why.

Teams above the first apron can’t acquire more salary than they send out in trades, among other restrictions. The Sixers could be less than $1 million below the apron once they spend the rest of their cap space and fill out their roster with minimum deals from there. That means they’ll need to send out nearly as much salary as they take back in any trade.

Finney-Smith is earning $14.9 million this season. The only players whom the Sixers have under contract other than Embiid are Reed ($7.7 million) and Council ($1.9 million). The math isn’t mathing there.

The Sixers could arrange a sign-and-trade involving Martin, whose $2.1 million cap hold could be key to the rest of their offseason plans. However, Base Year Compensation issues might complicate any effort to move him before Jan. 15 if they give him a short-term balloon deal.

The Sixers’ reported “exploratory interest” in Finney-Smith might have been an inquiry about the Nets’ asking price if they don’t trade him until the deadline. At that point, any of the Sixers’ players who sign contracts this offseason will be eligible to be traded, which opens the door for a potential midseason shakeup.

The hard-cap rules still apply once the season begins, though. If the Sixers take back more salary than they send out in a trade, they’d get hard-capped at the first apron. They’ll still need to send out almost an equivalent amount of salary than they take back in any trade given their proximity to the first apron.

On the bright side, they wouldn’t run into BYC issues with Martin in a midseason deal. If they give him a two-year deal with a non-guaranteed second season—a contract basically designed to be traded—they could aggregate his salary with anyone else’s on the roster to acquire a player earning even more. The Sixers would be hard-capped at the second apron if they did aggregate contracts, but it’d be hard for them to reach that level of spending this year without wildly overpaying Martin (something like $20-plus million per season).

The TL;DR version: If the Sixers are going to acquire another player with an eight-figure contract, it seems far more likely to happen in-season—when they can aggregate the contracts they sign this summer, including multiple minimum deals—than it does over the rest of the offseason.

With cap space drying up around the league, the Sixers might prefer to wait out the market and see if they can find another Oubre-esque steal like they did last summer. If not, they can package some of the deals they sign this offseason for a midseason trade.

Either way, it’s encouraging to hear that the Sixers are sniffing around players such as Finney-Smith, Caleb Martin and Haywood Highsmith. That suggests they’ve correctly identified the glaring hole on their roster and are proactively working to address it.

That just might not happen right away, or even this offseason at all, much to fans’ chagrin. Like clockwork every year, team president Daryl Morey stresses that he’s less concerned with what the roster looks like in October than what it looks like April, May and June. He might be planning on pursing an upgrade at that spot at the trade deadline and doing some early information gathering.

In the meantime, go back to debating Martin vs. Highsmith, everyone.

2024 NBA free agency: Sixers interested in signing Marcus Morris nba,free,agency,sixers,interested,in,signing,marcus,morris,liberty,ballers,front-page,76ers-free-agency-rumors-news


As NBA free agency continues, with various role players still up for grabs, the Sixers are looking to improve their forward depth. They’ve already had discussions with two Heat free agents in Caleb Martin and former Sixer Haywood Highsmith, and now another former Sixer has entered the mix.

As Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer has reported, the Sixers have expressed interest in signing Marcus Morris.

According to Pompey, the Pistons, Hornets, Cavaliers, Mavericks, Heat, and Timberwolves have also expressed some interest in Morris.

Morris spent 37 games with the Sixers last season, before being sent to San Antonio as part of the Buddy Hield trade. Morris was waived soon after and went on to sign with the Cavs for the rest of the season. During his short stretch in Philadelphia, Morris averaged 6.7 points and 2.9 rebounds with a 40 percent stroke from three in 17.2 minutes per game.

For a team that still needs help at the 4 and could benefit from having some extra size and shooting there, the 6-foot-8 Morris makes a little sense. He’s shot 40.3 percent from three over the last five years on solid volume, and could bring a touch of rebounding. But the positives pretty much run out there. At nearly 35 years of age, Morris is slowing down even more and was clearly an issue on defense with the Sixers already last season. He struggled to keep in front of anyone with much pace and failed to stay engaged and be in the right spots off the ball too often.

If Morris is just an end-of-bench piece for the regular season as a shooter with size, fine. He shouldn’t cost more than a minimum deal either. But if he’s being considered as a notable rotation piece or a candidate to play in the playoffs, the Sixers should look elsewhere at this point.

Both Martin and Highsmith are much better targets, with the latter having the ability to help play more at the 4. In terms of talent and general two-way reliability, there’s no doubt those two should be targeted over Morris.

2024 NBA Free Agency: Sixers have ‘had discussions’ with Caleb Martin nba,free,agency,sixers,have,had,discussions,with,caleb,martin,liberty,ballers,front-page,nba-free-agency,76ers-free-agency-rumors-news


The Sixers didn’t wait long to make a major splash in NBA free agency by landing Paul George, and have only added to that with more solid moves like adding Andre Drummond and Eric Gordon.

Next, the Sixers are looking to further bolster their forward depth. As Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald have now reported, the Sixers have had discussions with Heat free agent Caleb Martin:

The 76ers have also had discussions with Heat free agent Caleb Martin as they scan the free-agent market for options to fill their roster, according to a league source. …

The most the Heat can currently offer Haywood [Highsmith] or Martin while remaining under the ultra-punitive second apron is a contract with a starting salary of about $7 million with a maximum of 8 percent raises each season.

If the Sixers waive Paul Reed, they can still create about $9.2 million in cap space, which should give them enough spending power to sign someone like Martin. With the Heat also interested in finding a way to sign DeMar DeRozan using their remaining cap space, the Sixers could well be set up to outbid them for Martin.

Martin is one of the best forwards left on the free agent market. He certainly makes plenty of sense to help fill out the Sixers’ roster and give them even more versatile, wing-heavy lineup options. He’s a solid perimeter defender who can switch across several positions, a pretty confident three-point shooter (even if he isn’t the most efficient at 35.3 percent over the last two seasons, following a 41.3 percent mark back in 2021-22), a decent rebounder for his size, and he’s capable of attacking closeouts and making extra connective passes.

He’s also shown up many times on the playoff stage for Miami, especially in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals.

While the 6-foot-5 Martin doesn’t bring a lot of size or viability to play much at the 4, which is a spot the Sixers still need more help at, the team is also interested in another free agent forward from the Heat: former Sixer Haywood Highsmith.

With good length and the ability to cover forwards and some guards, plus 39.6 percent three-point shooting last season, Highsmith has found his way in the NBA as a 3-and-D role player since leaving Philly. He just had what was easily the best year of his career, playing a notable role for the Heat in 20.7 minutes per game. Partner his key traits with his size at 6-foot-7 and experience playing the 4 in Miami, and he’d be a helpful addition in Philly. It looks like Highsmith could wind up being a bit too expensive for the Heat to keep, too.

Both players make sense as targets for the Sixers right now. Maybe they can even find a way to steal both! We should hear more soon enough.

2024 NBA free agency: Sixers reportedly ‘in discussion’ with free agent forward Haywood Highsmith nba,free,agency,sixers,reportedly,in,discussion,with,free,agent,forward,haywood,highsmith,liberty,ballers,front-page,nba-free-agency,76ers-free-agency-rumors-news


Free agency rumors are beginning to heat back up! This latest report comes from Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who reports that Miami Heat free agent forward Haywood Highsmith is on the Sixers’ radar:

“The Sixers have interest in trading for Brooklyn Nets power forward Dorian Finny-Smith. They’ve also been in discussions with Miami Heat free agent and former Sixer Haywood Highsmith as a free-agent option. Houston Rockets free agent Reggie Bullock could be another option, but maybe for minimum salary.”

Pompey starts off by confirming the Sixers’ interest in Nets Forward Dorian Finny-Smith (first reported by Mike Scotto of HoopsHype). Kelly Iko of the Athletic first reported on Sixers’ interest in Reggie Bullock, but Haywood Highsmith is a new name on the radar.

OG Sixer (and Delaware Blue Coat) fans will remember Highsmith, who had a fascinating journey to get to this point. The Balitmore, Maryland product spent four years playing Division 2 basketball at Wheeling University, later declaring for the NBA Draft, going undrafted and being picked up by the Delaware Blue Coats.

Highsmith eventually played his way into a two-way contract with the Sixers during the 2018-19 season. He was later cut. After spending some more time in the G League, he earned his way onto the Miami Heat roster after several 10-day contracts where he’s been since.

Since his time with the Sixers, Highsmith has developed into a quality 3-and-D player, and has become a regular rotation player for the Heat. This past season, Highsmith averaged career-highs in games played, games started, minutes, field goal percentage, three-point percentage (39.6 percent on 2.9 attempts), assists, steals, blocks and points.

Highsmith’s stats probably don’t scream ‘SIGN HIM’ to most fans, but his advanced analytics do suggest he’s a better player than basic stats can tell. For example:

Highsmith is probably best as a rotation player than a full-time starting four, but on the right contract he makes a lot of sense for what the Sixers need. Speaking of contract, Pompey floated some numbers:

“Highsmith had career earnings of $4.2 million over his three NBA seasons. However, he could demand anywhere from $6 million to $8 million based on his improved play and impact as a role player. The Sixers are scouring for other options, but the 27-year-old Baltimore native could be a fallback option if the Sixers waive Reed.”

This range seems on par for what similar players have fetched in the open market. Numerous reports suggest the Heat are prioritizing re-signing Caleb Martin, which means Highsmith might get priced out as they look to save salary elsewhere.

The Sixers need some defensive-minded forwards around their big three of Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and Joel Embiid. We’ll see if the there’s a path towards the Sixers and Haywood Highsmith reuniting.

Sixers release 2024 Summer League roster featuring Jared McCain, Tony Bradley sixers,release,summer,league,roster,featuring,jared,mccain,tony,bradley,liberty,ballers,front-page,76ers-roster


The Philadelphia 76ers have released their roster for the 2024 Summer League, which will feature games in Salt Lake City, Utah along with Las Vegas.

As expected, the roster will feature their first- and second-round draft picks, Jared McCain and Adem Bona. Joining them will be the team’s current two-way players Justin Edwards and David Jones. Jeff Dowtin Jr., who recently had his team option declined, will join them for the Utah portion of Summer League. Ricky Council IV, now in his second year, will also suit up alongside them.

This roster also features some familiar names, including Tony Bradley who played (well) on the 2020-21 Sixers. Both Romeo Langford and RJ Hampton are former first-round draft picks and intriguing additions.

There’s plenty of intrigue to be found outside of the bigger names as well. Judah Mintz, a 20-year old guard out of Syracuse, went undrafted in the 2024 draft which came as a surprise to some. He plays as a bigger guard and has serious playmaking skill for his 6-foot-4 frame. If he shows out, he could make a serious case for their last two-way contract spot.

Keve Aluma is a Virginia Tech (2020-22) product who has played professional basketball overseas for the past few seasons. Darius Days out of LSU is another rangy forward who had a short two-way stint with the Houston Rockets in 2022-23.

Max Fiedler was one of several undrafted guys the Sixers came away with out of the 2024 NBA draft; signing an Exhbit-10 deal which means he’ll likely remain around the Sixers and Delaware Blue Coats post-Summer League. A fun fact about Fieder: He’s the all-time leader in rebounds (1,144), assists (571), field goal percentage (.658) and games played (148) and games started (135) for his alma mater, Rice University. He’ll likely backup Bona, alongside Tony Bradley as a reserve big.

Rounding out the roster is Justin Powell, who most recently played in the G League with the Cleveland Charge. Powell is a well-built shooting guard with an excellent perimeter shot and all-around game. Jaylen Sims shined during his time with the Greensboro Swarm as a rangy 6-foot-6 guard capable of providing a little bit of everything. Last but not least is Jordan Tucker, a 6-foot-7 wing who has spent time in the G League and playing overseas for the past few seasons.

Overall, I think the Sixers have fielded a diverse Summer League roster with legitimate talent. We’ll see if Jared McCain and company have enough to dethrone the Summer League super team the Utah Jazz have thrown together. See the Summer Sixers in action starting Monday, July 8, against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Report: Warriors in ‘serious talks’ to acquire Sixers’ Buddy Hield via sign-and-trade report,warriors,in,serious,talks,to,acquire,sixers,buddy,hield,via,sign,and,trade,liberty,ballers,front-page


The Sixers are still basking in the afterglow of having signed Paul George. But doing so — offering the 34 year-old small forward out of Fresno, a $212M four-year contract, has left them in a bit of a cap crunch. They were able to lock up Tyrese Maxey on a $204M deal of his own, one that the first-time All-Star deserved.

But the reason the team was able to sign PG in the first place was because they didn’t take on any long-term salary either last offseason, or around the 2024 NBA Trade Deadline.

Our Paul Hudrick wrote about the guts it took Daryl Morey to thread the needle there, doing what it took to help the team last season, without costing themselves the chance to pursue bigger fish last week.

One “needle-thread” move they did make, however, was when they acquired former Kings, and Pacers guard, Buddy Hield last February. Hield had his moments in a Sixers’ uni, but once Joel Embiid went down with a torn meniscus, he didn’t really deliver what coach Nick Nurse was hoping for.

And now it appears as if the Bahama Mamba may be departing for the Golden State Warriors.

Per Shams Charania, of The Athletic and FanDuelTV:

We’ve yet to get more details, but you can be sure that Philadelphia would love to recoup any type of asset, even if it were merely a future second-round pick or a trade exception.

We won’t expect miracles here but anything like that would be better than letting Hield, acquired for a couple of second-round picks, (while also parting ways with Marcus Morris, Sr. and Furkan Korkmaz in a three team trade that also included the San Antonio Spurs) walk for nothing return.

The Golden State Warriors recently bid fairwell to future Hall of Famer, Klay Thompson, a four-time champion with The Dubs, so apparently their newish front office wanted to bolster the shooters that Steph Curry can work with.

Earlier on Tuesday, current Warrior, Draymond Green shared his thoughts on the Warriors push to land Paul George that fell apart when the Clippers didn’t want to play ball with a Conference rival. That was just one of the things Daryl Morey and the Sixers needed to go their way.

Philly still has a few first-rounders and some cap space to work with. There was recently a report from Hoops Hype’s Michael Scotto that Philadelphia could be interested in acquiring Brooklyn Nets’ wing Dorian Finney-Smith, or potentially Warriors’ Lester Quinones.

So we’ll see if LQ might not be exchanged for Hield. The Sixers have already had sad goodbyes with De’Anthony Melton (a Warrior) and Nico Batum (a Clipper once again). Now it sounds as if Buddy could be bound for the Warriors, joining Melton.

Yes, he got paid, but Paul George chose Philadelphia and the Sixers in NBA free agency yes,he,got,paid,but,paul,george,chose,philadelphia,and,the,sixers,in,nba,free,agency,liberty,ballers,front-page,nba-free-agency,76ers-features-profiles


Philadelphia isn’t a place free agents want to come.

Outside of the Eagles, that saying has often rang true. After the Phillies’ golden era ended, the local nine struggled to field a competitive roster. Then, something amazing happened.

With plenty of options and interest from around Major League Baseball, Bryce Harper, the baseball equivalent of LeBron James who was just entering his prime, chose Philadelphia. While it took a couple years and a slew of other changes, Harper has helped make the Phillies a perennial contender and reinvigorated the city’s love of its local ball club.

No pressure, Paul George.

While nobody will expect George to have a Harper-like impact, the nine-time All-Star choosing to join the Sixers is a franchise-altering moment. And none of it would’ve been possible without Daryl Morey having the guts to deploy a bold plan.

This was all set in motion a year ago when James Harden surprisingly opted into his $47.3 million player option and promptly demanded a trade. You might recall things got a bit ugly, with the former MVP calling Morey — who has a commissioned painting of The Beard in his home — a liar. The saga would persist for months until finally the Sixers and Clippers, the only team Harden wanted to go to, came to an agreement.

In that deal, Morey acquired serious draft capital and four players, all on expiring contracts. While Nicolas Batum, Marcus Morris, Sr., KJ Martin and Robert Covington all helped to varying degrees, it was clear that Morey acquired them mostly for the flexibility their pending free agency’s provided. Including P.J. Tucker’s outgoing contract in the trade also proved to be a huge win.

The Sixers rode out the 2023-24 season, banking on Joel Embiid to improve upon his MVP season, Tyrese Maxey to continue his ascension and new head coach Nick Nurse to make his mark. Well, those things did happen early on with the Sixers getting off to a terrific start to the season. Embiid’s meniscus tear put a huge damper on things, but a strong playoff showing against a tough Knicks team provided hope — along with the unfathomable flexibility Morey gave himself this offseason.

Think about the gumption it takes to go into an offseason having just one player on a guaranteed contract. That just doesn’t happen. After the Sixers were eliminated by New York in Game 6, that was the case.

Embiid was the only player on a guaranteed deal for 2024-25. We all knew Maxey was going to get his max extension (he did), but Paul Reed’s contract was no longer guaranteed since the team failed to make the second round (joke’s on you, Danny Ainge). Ricky Council IV (who remains on the roster) and Jeff Dowtin, Jr. (who does not) were also on non-guaranteed contracts.

So, the slate was as clean as it had been since Morey inherited a roster with the ill-fitting Al Horford and Josh Richardson and the volatile Ben Simmons. The Sixers president of basketball operations was ready to build the team he wanted around his two stars in Embiid and Maxey.

But boy, did an awful lot have to go right.

Morey made it clear at his end-of-season presser that he was going star-hunting. Armed with loads of cap space and draft assets, he had the proper ammo, but who would be available? LeBron James? Donovan Mitchell? Jimmy Butler? As free agency crept up, the options seemed to fall off the board — except George.

The Clippers and George could’ve agreed to a four-year max extension at any point. They did not. LA was reportedly hellbent on not giving a fourth year. George was hellbent on getting one. Therein lay the opportunity for Morey to swoop in. After a roller coaster few weeks where it seemed like the Clippers were trying to call his bluff, George knew he had options.

He could’ve opted in, perhaps forcing a trade to the Warriors — though, as we saw in the case of Harden, that process isn’t always so smooth. He could’ve taken the three-year deal to stay home in Palmdale, taking another run at a title with Kawhi Leonard in the Clippers’ brand-new toilet-rich arena. He could’ve joined an up-and-coming Magic team loaded with young talent.

But on Sunday night/Monday morning, he chose Philadelphia. It’s not hyperbolic to say landing George makes this one of the greatest offseasons in franchise history.

Think about it: the last “big name” free agent to choose the Sixers was current GM Elton Brand — on what was then called the “Philly Max” — way back in 2008, the last time the Phillies won the World Series. Funny enough, the Clippers were also the team Brand left to join the Sixers. Before that, you’d have to go back to 1982, when reigning MVP Moses Malone signed an offer sheet with Philly, forcing the Rockets to match and complete a sign-and-trade.

One of those situations worked out slightly better than the other.

But in this moment, Sixers fans should enjoy it. An executive who’d become maligned in the Delaware Valley took a ballsy path and it worked. A nine-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA performer and four-time All-Defensive Team pick decided the Sixers were his best option. Is George perfect? Of course not. Because no player is. But he is damn good.

As has been chronicled, a contingent of managing partner Josh Harris, Morey, Brand and executive vice president of basketball operations Pete Dinwiddie, who has a relationship with George from when the two were with the Pacers, made the trip to visit George’s L.A. home. Joining them was franchise icon Julius Erving, who brought home the organization’s last championship with Malone back in 1983.

It was not Dr. J but another franchise icon who George was paying homage to that night as he planned to tell the team of his intentions. George was wearing an Allen Iverson t-shirt. Iverson of course was the biggest of cogs on the last Sixers team to get to the NBA Finals in 2001.

Wearing a t-shirt with The Answer on it to give the Sixers his answer. That’s some next-level pandering. Bryce Harper would be proud.