Daryl Morey’s first Sixers move already has him on track for executive of the year.

He moved Al Horford and his hideous contract to Oklahoma City for Danny Green, without having to absorb too much damage in the assets department.

Here’s the full extent of the deal, from Woj:

Alright, so it’s Horford, a 2025 first rounder, tonight’s 34th pick, and the rights to Micic for Danny Green and Terrance Ferguson.

That’s a win for the following reasons:

  1. You get out of the awful Horford contract, which had three years remaining at about $27 million per
  2. You don’t lose much in Micic. If he was that good he would have been over here already. Seriously.
  3. Danny Green is a free agent after this season. He’ll earn $15 million then he’s off the books. One year of Green is infinitely better than three more years of Horford.
  4. Ferguson is only 22 years old and still has some upside. His production was down this year but he’s an athletic wing with some good traits. Guy is a quality defender.
  5. The first round pick is whatever. It’s five years away. Joel Embiid will be in his 30s and the championship window, if it can be reopened, will likely have closed again.
  6. Losing the second rounder is okay. It was expected they’d have to throw in a second rounder or two. They still have four picks tonight.

 

Considering how bad Horford’s contract was, this is borderline fleecing territory for Morey. OKC and Sam Presti will just tell their fan base that they’ve added to stockpile of first round draft picks, which is insane. They have more than 15 first rounders over the next five years.

But the fact that the Sixers moved that Horford contract without having to attach tonight’s first rounder, or a first rounder within the next three years, is a big victory. And now you’ve cleared the power forward log jam that kept Tobias Harris at small forward, where he arguably might not be as good.

Depending on what happens moving forward, you’re looking at a starting lineup of Ben Simmons, Josh Richardson, Danny Green, Tobias Harris, and Joel Embiid. Green struggled in the playoffs this season but is only one full season removed from another championship with Toronto. You’d take him over Horford any day of the week considering how poorly Horford/Embiid worked out last year. It got to the point where Horford was benched for Shake Milton, so there you go.

This is a great first step for Morey. He got out of a bad contract like Houdini escaping from the water chamber while wearing a straight jacket.

Let’s check in with Anna Horford for her thoughts: