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The Philadelphia 76ers had a homerun offseason, signing their top target Paul George via free agency, and fortifying their depth with veterans.
Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum, fresh off winning his first — and the team’s 18th NBA title — saw what 76ers president Daryl Morey had done. But he’s not worried.
“I mean, it’s twofold. Like, I see all the changes in people switching teams and obviously teams getting better,” Tatum said on “7 PM in Brooklyn” podcast. “And that’s every offseason. And you got to have like an appropriate fear or respect for your opponent, right? You don’t never want to disrespect who you are playing [against]. But with that being said, it’s like we won. Like, when you win a championship, you get to talk how you want to talk. They gotta go through us.”
Daryl Morey Assembles Best Joel Embiid Supporting Cast
Joel Embiid has never had a stronger supporting cast than what Morey has assembled this offseason.
The 76ers added George, who signed a four-year, $212 million deal, without giving up anything. Morey’s handshake deal with Tyrese Maxey to delay his max extension (five-year, $204 million) allowed the 76ers to manipulate the cap space which led to George’s signing.
By not signing an extension last year, Maxey’s salary cap hold was only for $13.0 million, which is way below his $35.1 million starting salary on his new max extension.
They now boast of a “Big 3” that complements each other.
On top of George’s signing, Morey spent their remaining cap space with win-now veterans Caleb Martin, Andre Drummond and Eric Gordon. They have also re-signed Kelly Oubre Jr. to their midlevel exception.
They now have a deep seven-man rotation that can challenge the much-improved New York Knicks and Celtics on top of the Eastern Conference.
Joel Embiid’s Initial Thoughts on 76ers’ New Big 3
A giddy Embiid was hyped to see how their offseason came together, forming the Best Big 3 in terms of fit.
“Yeah, I think as far as the fit, it looks amazing,” Embiid told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “It is great, especially when you got a big … I don’t like to call myself a big, but when you got a player that posts up and that isos quite a bit, you need to have willing shooters and guys that are not afraid to pull the trigger. PG, great shooter, 40%, 45 catch and shoot; Tyrese, we know great shooter, off the dribble, catch-and-shoot.
On paper, and as far as the fit, it looks fantastic because you got both guys that can play off the ball, and they can play on ball and they’re great shooters and they can handle the ball, and then you also got me. So, yeah, it looks great.”
Joel Embiid’s Anxiety Before Paul George Trade
But Embiid also revealed his patience was tested.
“I’d be lying to say that patience wasn’t tested,” Embiid told ESPN. “Because I’m at the point where there are no awards, there’s no regular season or no All-NBA or All-Stars is going to change the way my legacy is. Well, there are a few things that can change it, but the main one is the championship. So when you start thinking about what you want to be remembered as, you want to be remembered as someone that’s won.
When you are presented with a plan, sometimes it goes wrong, sometimes it goes right. We’ve still got a long way to go. On paper, it looks great. But we still got to go on the court and make it work.”
Fortunately for Morey, who was under pressure to deliver this offseason, the Los Angeles Clippers did not relent to George’s demands for a fourth year on their initial three-year offer and did not agree to a sign-and-trade with the Golden State Warriors.
Now, it’s just a matter of proving their new-found mettle on the court. Which is easier said than done.
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