What do James Harden, Montrezl Harrell, De’Anthony Melton, PJ Tucker, Danuel House and Trevelin Queen have in common? They all went through the Rockets, and they find themselves today at the Sixers to help Joel Embiid win his first title. They are “Morey Boys”, and the president of Philadelphia assumes this choice.
” We have recruited many people who have worked with both Doc and myself in the past” Confirms Morey. ” Everyone likes to make fun of the fact that we have a lot of ex-Rockets, but Montrezl had his best years under Doc. He was Sixth Man of the Year (in 2019-20) – and he really blossomed after that Chris Paul trade that led him to the Clippers, working with Sam Cassell“.
Even if in the end, the Sixers recruited almost only former Rockets, Morey assures that there was no deliberate strategy. Everything happened, piecemeal.
” Rather, it is by observing the range of opportunities. I’m trying to move forward without a definitive goal like, ‘We need to sign X.’ In fact, the signing of Montrezl Harrell was one of those we never imagined. So we were comfortable with what we already had. We thought that if there was a problem, we could study it during the season. I thought it would happen more in February or later. So you look at all the opportunities.“
“When the best players are involved, see the possibilities and understand why we make such and such a decision, they feel more invested”
The former president of the Rockets also talks about his way of doing things. He likes to involve his best players in the recruitment process, and it therefore implies that Joel Embiid and James Harden have had their say in recruitment. We imagine that Harden was enthusiastic about the idea of reuniting with former teammates.
” I have discussions with our front office, with coach Rivers, with the owners and, yes, also with our best players. Morey continues. “When the best players are involved and they see the possibilities and they understand why we make such and such a decision, they feel more invested. They feel like part of a whole. It’s a smart way to get everyone in the same boat. As a result, when they see all these options, he may actually have thoughts like, “Hey, I could use a pick-and-roll guy and Montrezl Harrell could do that.” We looked at other players who were better at spacing play. ‘OK, if I don’t have a pick-and-roll partner, I could use a guy who spreads play and could open some lanes for me’ . So it’s more of that than specific players. “
On arrival, James Harden will find Harrell, but also PJ Tucker and Danuel House. Players who will help him find his Houston game through their screens, their reading of the game and their ability to dismiss the game.
” We happen to have James now, and there are certain players who work well with James. It is therefore natural to seek this adequacy. It’s the same with Joel. We just finished playing a streak against PJ Tucker, and PJ was able to impact that streak in a lot of areas with his physicality, the quality of his defense, his energy on the field, his offensive rebounds. And Joel rightly said, “Hey, we could use a guy like that“.
