Getty James Harden #1 of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Daryl Morey’s quest to turn this year’s Philadelphia 76ers into last decade’s Houston Rockets is nearly complete. Nearly. There’s still one missing piece, the forgotten wing on the Island of Misfit Toys Houston Rockets, Eric Gordon.
Accoridng to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle, Gordon is once again available in trade talks. Not only that, but the Rockets wing’s name has been in trade discussions “with roughly half a dozen teams” so far. Feigen added that Gordon “is expected to be among the top targets for contenders.”
It’s not the first time Gordon’s name has come up in trade discussions. Morey was reportedly on the phone with Houston on draft night to trade for Gordon before a better deal for Grizzlies reserve De’Anthony Melton materialized.
Eric Gordon shook LeBron 😳
Gordon Would Complete the Sixers’ Recruitment of Old Rockets
Since the summer, it appears that Morey’s plan has been to solve the Sixers’ issues at various positions by employing players he’s familiar with. PJ Tucker, Montrezl Harrell, Danuel House, and even De’Anthony Melton, who was drafted by Morey before being shipped off to Memphis, all stem from the roots of his Rockets tenure.
Of course, the centerpiece in this entire scheme is James Harden, who developed from a nice sixth man into one of the league’s best players of all time while in Houston.
And Morey knows how it looks. He explained to Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer that the summer played out in a “very weird” way. But rather than Morey looking to recreate the imperfect Houston Rockets in the Delaware Valley, Morey believes the Sixers are uniquely positioned to gel quickly, given their shared background.
“It all sort of fell, and it’s created a pretty interesting and, I think, positive dynamic because there is a lot of familiarity, both with the players together and also the coaching staff.”
Gordon is the next domino that simply makes sense. He’s too old for the Rockets’ long-term gameplan, which includes building around Jalen Green, Jabari Smith, and whatever likely top-pick the team ends up with next summer.
Unfortunately, injuries have derailed the Sixers’ plans for a smooth transition.
Doc Rivers Knows Chemistry is Important for Sixers
One of the tangential goals of bringing in familiar faces this summer was clearly an effort to make the transition as smooth and painless as possible. Unfortunately, that hasn’t quite worked out yet.
With Joel Embiid, Harden, and Tyrese Maxey all missing significant time with injuries, the Sixers have been forced to muddle through, piecemealing chemistry until the full squad is back. That chemistry is something head coach Doc Rivers knows is important, so much so that he spoke about it back in November.
“That’s never worked,” said coach Doc Rivers. “It hasn’t. Miami tried it the first year and it didn’t work. I know people will say ‘Well, they did.’ No, it didn’t work. They had to figure out chemistry first. You don’t just throw a team together and think it’s gonna work without coming up with some type of team play and chemistry.”
Now that Harden and Embiid are back, the fruits are starting to bear for Philadelphia. A trouncing of the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday certainly didn’t hurt that argument.