The Sixers have had some nightmarish draft nights in the past, but under Daryl Morey the team has done quite well.
As a crucial draft night for the Sixers franchise draws closer, I’ve been using the time to look back at recent history to see what’s come of teams that have landed in a similar situation. From both a Sixers perspective and a league perspective, it’s been a fun bit of revisionist history.
Naturally, the next step in that progression is looking back at Daryl Morey’s draft history and seeing what can be gleaned from that. Now seems as good a time as any after this reply from a national reporter stirred up quite a frenzy on Sixers Twitter.
Pretty bold given the amount of talent they have passed on in recent drafts.
— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) June 18, 2025
So here is a reminder that while Morey has had his share of failures in Philadelphia, the draft has been the one thing he’s nailed.
Starting in 2020, the Sixers were in somewhat of a similar position they find themselves in now. It took a buzzer-beater for their first-round pick to convey from, coincidentally, the Oklahoma City Thunder. From there he took advantage of Tyrese Maxey sliding all the way to the 21st pick.
Not only did he draft an All-Star past the lottery, but he grabbed two rotation players late in the second round. Isaiah Joe was scooped up at 49 while Paul Reed was taken 58th. Both of them are proven NBA players which makes them draft night successes even if the organization went on to bungle their tenures.
Joe was cut after two seasons, most of that time was spent warming the bench. This year, he made the most three-pointers for a Thunder team that may soon win a championship.
I still contend that Reed was the best backup center of the Joel Embiid era. Even if his 2024 series against the Knicks was bad, he actively helped them win playoff games the year before. That’s way more than Amir Johnson, Greg Monroe or Dwight Howard can boast.
It’s also fair to acknowledge on this draft night Morey dumped Al Horford to the Thunder with a future first-round pick in exchange for Danny Green. He might be graded a lot more harshly if this season’s pick had not conveyed, but the lottery balls were kind to him, and removing Horford from the backcourt was crucial for Embiid’s step in becoming an MVP-caliber player.
Speaking of some of the downswings, Morey doesn’t have anything to show for the 2021 draft. In fairness, he was picking at the end of the round every time.
Defensive specialist Jaden Springer didn’t pan out the way he hoped at the 28th overall pick, but he is still floating around in the league. He signed a three-year deal with the Utah Jazz back in March.
Taking Filip Petrusev at 50 was also definitely a miss. He appeared in only three NBA games before going back to Europe. Still, Morey did draft another player in the 50s who landed in someone’s rotation.
Three picks later, the Sixers selected Charles Bassey out of Western Kentucky. He only played 23 games in his lone season with Philadelphia and was waived the following training camp. The Spurs thought he was a flyer worth taking, giving him a four-year contract in 2023. He’s been plagued by injuries since then though. He fractured his patellar tendon a day after signing that deal, and tore his ACL the following year.
The only other knock on Morey’s draft resume is that, somehow, he would not make another draft selection for another three years. Blockbuster trades and tampering violations will do that.
The early returns sure do look promising on his 2024 selections though. Jared McCain’s 23 games he was able to play in before a season-ending injury were so impactful that he still earned All-Rookie Team votes.
Adem Bona didn’t get the opportunity for many in-game reps until the season cratered and everything was a mess, but he made the most of that opportunity. The same can be said for undrafted free agent Justin Edwards.
So yes, there are some horrible moments in Sixers history when they’ve had similar opportunities before. No one needs another reminder about what happened to Jahlil Okafor or Markelle Fultz. This regime has been far from perfect as well — it’s why they’re in the situation they’re in. The one area this front office might deserve your trust though is in scouting.