Well, you can't say the Sixers aren't aiming high.
According to Marc Stein of the New York Times, the Sixers "have been rebuffed in their attempt to hire away Houston's Daryl Morey to take over as their new general manager." Stein added that the team had great interest in Morey, but he couldn't be lured away from the Rockets.
Morey, who has served as the Rockets' general manager since 2007, was named the NBA's Executive of the Year after Houston secured the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with a franchise-best 65-17 record during the 2017-18 regular season.
Morey obviously fits the Sixers from a surface standpoint with his analytics background, commitment to building a pace-and-space roster and desire to chase stars. However, what makes the Sixers' desire in him really interesting is that Morey is the mentor of former Sixers front office executive Sam Hinkie.
Bryan Colangelo, the man who replaced Hinkie in the Sixers' front office, resigned in June after a scandal involving multiple secret Twitter accounts rocked the franchise. Head coach Brett Brown took over as interim general manager following Colangelo's resignation.
The Sixers have been patient throughout their search as managing owner Josh Harris recently said there is no timetable to select a candidate.
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"We're just getting focused on it now, given everything with free agency and the draft, and also the other GMs are in the same place. We're looking for the right person," Harris told NBC Sports Philadelphia's Amy Fadool last week (see story). "One of the things that Bryan Colangelo did really well was we built a great staff, whether it be (vice president of basketball operations and chief of staff) Ned Cohen or (vice president of analytics and strategy) Alex Rucker or (vice president of player personnel) Marc Eversley or (Delaware Blue Coats general manger) Elton Brand, we have a lot of great people. It's very consensus-oriented, there's a lot of people in the dialogue, and we want to make sure we find the right fit for that.
"It's not going to be easy. My guess is it's going to take awhile. And we're obviously focused on doing it as quickly as possible, but at the same time I don't want to set unrealistic expectations - it could take a little while. So we're just starting that."
