Many were shocked that the Philadelphia 76ers weren’t able to secure a trade for James Harden. Considering their stance these past few years, and rumors of their interest in such a deal, many had predicted it would be Philly who would land the former MVP.
So why aren’t they the ones hosting James right now?
According to Chris Haynes and Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports, it has to do with Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta and new Sixers President Daryl Morey.
“After that, I was told that Tilman Fertitta – the Houston Rockets owner – he was just adamant that they not make a deal with Philly, obviously with Daryl Morey being the GM over there now,” Haynes said, via Dan Feldman of NBC Sports.
In case you don’t know, Morey was the GM of the Houston Rockets for years before recently taking over in Philly. While the details behind his departure are still murky, it couldn’t have ended on good terms if there is some animosity going on between him and his former team.
Still, that situation is still just speculative, and it’s very possible that the Sixers just weren’t able to offer what Houston was looking for. Daryl Morey did say himself that Ben Simmons was off the table.
