From ‘most overrated’ GM to ‘surprised they did this,’ here’s what they’re saying about Daryl Morey’s firing

Daryl Morey’s time in charge of the Sixers has come to an end.

On Tuesday, the Sixers made the decision to part ways with Morey, who spent six seasons as the team’s president of basketball operations. Bob Myers, the former general manager of the Golden State Warriors and president of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, will take over in the interim and lead the search for a new leader for the front office.

Morey’s dismissal comes in the wake of the New York Knicks sweeping the Sixers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, including a Game 4 blowout on Sunday at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

In Morey’s six seasons at the helm, the Sixers went 270-212, but never advanced past the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Here’s what the national media is saying about the Sixers’ dismissal of Morey:

Chris “Mad Dog” Russo delivered the most brazen take down of Morey on ESPN’s First Take.

“Daryl Morey is the most overrated general manager — basketball aficionado — in the history of the National Basketball Association,” Russo said. “He don’t know, excuse my French, his [expletive] from his elbow.”

» READ MORE: Murphy: Daryl Morey was the right man for the job, but the job has changed for the Sixers

Russo, a New York City-based radio host, used the contract Morey gave to James Harden in 2022 as an example to support his claim. Morey traded Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets for Harden and Paul Millsap at the trade deadline in 2022, then inked Harden to a two-year extension worth $68.6 million in the offseason.

Harden helped the Sixers to the playoffs in 2023, but the Sixers were eliminated in the Eastern Conference semifinals by the Boston Celtics in seven games. Harden’s relationship with the Sixers soured after the playoff run. The 2018 MVP requested a trade and was fined by the NBA for calling Morey “a liar” at an Adidas event in China that August.

“Harden, whenever [Morey] put his money in him, that was ridiculous,” Russo said.

Evan Cohen agreed with Morey on ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike radio show, calling Morey “the single-most overrated executive in the history of sports.”

“He has been a GM for about 19 seasons, with Houston and Philadelphia, respectively,” Cohen said. “He’s been to the playoffs 15 times. Cool, everyone makes the playoffs in the NBA, we know that. He’s been to two conference finals — two — in 19 seasons. He’s never been to the NBA Finals. His teams’ record in the postseason, with him running the team? 79-79.”

While Russo’s takedown of Morey drew raucous laughter from his fellow panelists on First Take, some other members of the national media were not as sold on the move.

Yahoo! Sports’ Tom Haberstroh said he was surprised by the Sixers’ decision on Yahoo! Sports Daily.

“Frankly, when you look at the record Daryl Morey had, I think it is up and down, but I don’t think it has been a disaster there,” Haberstroh said. “You look at the fact [that] they were able to beat the Boston Celtics this year, that was a crowning achievement. That was a huge success.”

Haberstroh credited Morey for his drafting record, which includes Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe. Haberstroh also played down criticism over the contracts given to Joel Embiid and Paul George, who are owed a combined $112 million next season.

“At the time, I think most people believed that that was the right course of action,” Haberstroh said. “Bringing in multiple stars together, a two-way guy in Paul George, and they beat the Boston Celtics this year.”

Bill Simmons said he was not surprised by Morey’s firing, but he did suggest the Sixers were in a better spot than when Morey took over in 2020. On Wednesday’s The Bill Simmons Podcast, Simmons said if he were Morey, he would not have issued maximum extensions to George and Embiid in 2024. Simmons instead would have traded Embiid to the Knicks.

“I said this at the time; the move was to trade Embiid before the Knicks got [Karl-Anthony] Towns,” Simmons said. “When the Knicks were clearly, desperately, trying to … They had all these picks that made an impact, and they had a real relationship with Embiid ... Out of anyone, they valued [Embiid] the most.”

Simmons saw Morey’s decision not to trade Embiid that offseason as a failure to get the most the organization could for the MVP center.

“You had Embiid coming off these two seasons where he’d played the most games he’d ever played,” Simmons said. “His stock was never going to be higher … I just think [Morey] could have gotten a [expletive] mother lode [for] Philly. Now, would the fans have been happy about it? I don’t know. Hard to say, but in retrospect, the move is like, ‘I am selling high, not on Jared McCain, but on Joel Embiid.’”

» READ MORE: The five biggest challenges the next Sixers lead front-office executive will face

Colin Cowherd said Morey’s decision to extend Embiid, when the Knicks were reportedly interested in trading for the Sixers star, is what ultimately led to Morey’s dismissal.

“Daryl Morey did some good things,” Cowherd said. “He drafted well. VJ Edgecombe is great. Maxey is fantastic. And Josh Harris, as the owner, is difficult. But if you look at Embiid’s regular season games played since winning the MVP, it’s 38, 19 and 39. And you could say to yourself, ‘Well, I mean, you didn’t see this coming.’ He missed his first two years after being drafted because he was unhealthy. I’ve preached this for years. When it comes to bigs, hurt early, hurt often.”