76ers Front Office had 'Tough Debates' Regarding a Recent Trade
After the 2019-2020 NBA season concluded, Philadelphia 76ers General Manager Elton Brand mentioned the collaboration days were over within the front office.
Then, he followed up that statement by saying he'd like to add more "basketball minds" to the team. Although Philly added several new members -- notably Daryl Morey, Prosper Karangwa, and Peter Dinwiddie -- the collaboration days aren't finished.
Instead, the Sixers have just assembled a new collective of decision-makers to work with. Part of the new front office team is Sixers head coach Doc Rivers, who controlled personnel moves for the Los Angeles Clippers from 2014 to last season.
While every Sixers trade from the new front office regime has had Daryl Morey and Elton Brand's imprints on it, Doc Rivers made it clear on Tuesday that he's just as much as part of the front office collaboration as everybody else.
"We did it together," Rivers said as he talked about the Sixers' latest personnel moves, which highlighted adding shooters. "So, we're a team, and Daryl wouldn't have done any of those things without me sitting next to him and without Elton sitting next to him."
Over the last week, the 76ers have made several trades. Along with picks and draft rights, the 76ers have traded Al Horford, Josh Richardson, and Zhaire Smith to replace them with Danny Green, Terrance Ferguson, Seth Curry, and Tony Bradley.
While most of the Sixers' trades so far this offseason have received rave reviews for the team, one trade, in particular, had the front office collective divided, according to Rivers. "We've had some tough debates, you know?" Rivers mentioned.
"We had some really long hard debates where the room was split, and we had to come to an agreement on things," the coach explained. Rivers refused to detail which trade he was referring to, but it's easy to guess which one it probably wasn't about.
The first trade of the Daryl Morey-led regime came hours before the 2020 NBA Draft. Philly sent Al Horford packing along with several picks and the draft rights to Vasilije Micic. Considering Horford's contract was regarded as one of the worst in the NBA, Morey and company had to prioritize getting it off the books this offseason.
Horford is a well-respected veteran in the NBA -- but he didn't exactly click with last season's Sixers the way he clicked with the Atlanta Hawks and the Boston Celtics. That narrows it down to two possible players; Josh Richardson and Zhaire Smith.
Between the two, Smith has spent more time with the Sixers organization as he was traded on draft night in 2018. While Smith didn't have an opportunity to contribute much for Philly as injuries affected his development early on, the 21-year-old guard left a lot to be desired for the Sixers during a six-game stretch in his rookie season.
But then again, the chances of Smith having an impact in 2020-2021 was slim. Smith showed promise in a handful of games during his rookie season, but not enough to keep him out of the G League for most of his Sophomore effort.
Plus, recent rumors indicated that former Sixers head coach Brett Brown, who made the trade for Smith in 2018, was one of the very few people left in the building who believed in the young guard. As we know, Brown was fired back in August.
With that, all signs point to Richardson possibly being the player who left the Sixers' front office torn on whether they should trade him or not. While Philly gets a three-point shooting upgrade with the addition of Seth Curry, they aren't exactly stealing him from the Dallas Mavericks by trading away Richardson.
Just last season, the Sixers traded for the 27-year-old shooting guard. While Richardson was the player who the 76ers got in return for Jimmy Butler, which set the bar of expectations high, J-Rich was no scrub for Philly last season.
In 53 games, Richardson averaged nearly 14 points-per-game as the team's starting shooting guard. His offensive numbers might've been down after a career year with the Miami Heat, but Richardson held value on the defensive side of the ball and within the Sixers' locker room.
Overall, Philly gets a player who fits the team better on the court with the addition of Curry but letting go of Richardson must not have been easy for the 76ers. All in all, Rivers noted the front office was "happy" once they pulled the trigger on said trade -- but in the business of basketball, it won't always be so simple to get rid of players who become well-respected within the organization.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_
