Sixers trade Harden, but next thing that really matters for Morey is Embiid

So… who’s going after Daryl Morey now?

In the wake of the long-awaited trade that sent James Harden from Philadelphia to the LA Clippers late Monday night — ending one of the most controversial standoffs between a star player and a front office executive in league history — the lack of clarity around that crucial question means it’s virtually impossible to truly analyze what this all means for the Sixers.

Step 1 of Morey’s plan is now complete: The 76ers’ president of basketball operations is sending Harden to his preferred destination (along with P.J. Tucker) in exchange for Robert Covington, Nicolas Batum, KJ Martin, Marcus Morris Sr. and draft picks. As I detailed earlier this month, it is those choices that will matter most if Morey is to salvage this situation that has been so sour since the summer.

A quick refresher on what’s in store for the Sixers, according to league sources: a 2026 first-rounder (from the Clippers via Oklahoma City), a 2028 first-rounder, two second-rounders and a pick swap from the Clippers. According to Morey, his best chance to get this Sixers team even closer to title contention is to gather all those draft assets and look for the kind of high-level player who can somehow replace the former MVP who just left town. And while he’s at it, help quiet the noise among the Sixers rivals that reigning MVP Joel Embiid will eventually do the same. That’s step 2 here, and it remains to be seen if Morey can pull it off.

Say what you will about Harden, but he led the league in assists (10.7 per game) and was still scoring at a high level (21 ppg.) at age 33 while playing a crucial role in the 54 wins of the Sixers in 2022. 23 season (and Embiid’s MVP campaign). On his best nights he is still a top talent.

It’s safe to assume Morey has a list of targets for his potential replacement, but he’s also well aware that it could take some time before those players, whoever they are, become available. That’s the unavoidable truth that comes with this time of year, when most teams remain hopeful enough about their prospects that the willingness to negotiate is relatively minimal. The annual surge in desperation typically comes later, much closer to the league’s trade deadline on February 8, for example.

Morey will certainly share his views in the coming days, but it goes without saying that three key factors played a role in this decision to go with The Beard once and for all:

• The draft assets coming the Sixers’ way ended up being so high that he was fairly confident in his ability to ultimately complete the aforementioned Step 2, even if the Clippers ended up retaining Terance Mann.

• The uncertainty surrounding Harden and how he chose to handle his Sixers existence became increasingly disruptive as the league announced Thursday that it was “investigating the facts” surrounding Harden’s absence from the Sixers’ season opener against Milwaukee. He had yet to play this season and was on the bench in street clothes for Sunday’s home opener in Philadelphia. The likelihood that messiness and discomfort would increase on this fractured front seemed very high.

• The Sixers have looked good without Harden. They won two of three games and posted a net rating of 10.9, which (small sample size and all) trails only the Clippers and Nuggets. Philly nearly blew Milwaukee’s opening night (118-117) and went on to win in Toronto (114-107) and at home against Portland (126-98).

More specifically – and importantly – the early revelation that Tyrese Maxey is on his way to becoming an All-Star is of great interest. So far, the fourth-year guard is averaging 30.3 points (he averaged 20.3 last season), 6.3 assists (down from 3.5) and 6.7 rebounds (up from 2.9).

But wait, there’s more: After shooting 42.7 percent from long range (on 4.1 attempts) two seasons ago and 43.4 percent (on 6.2 attempts) last season, he’s shot 56 percent from his three-pointers are hit with an even greater volume (8.3 per game). ). It’s early, yes, but Maxey has made a pretty impressive case for this increased workload on the offensive end to be his new norm under first-year coach Nick Nurse.

Not surprisingly, Embiid has looked like his MVP-caliber self so far (averaging 31.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 3.0 blocks per game). Tobias Haris and Kelly Oubre Jr. both also average almost 20 points per game.

Put all these developments together and you begin to understand why it was finally time to end the NBA’s latest superstar saga. The question now – one that doesn’t have an answer yet – is whether another star will be heading to Philadelphia in the coming months.

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(Photo of James Harden and Joel Embiid: Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)