There was no way the Philadelphia 76ers were going to stand pat at the trade deadline. With reigning MVP Joel Embiid out for an indefinite period due to a knee injury, the 76ers needed to make some moves to remain afloat in the tight Eastern Conference playoff race. But president of basketball operations Daryl Morey had his sights set on a few moves that were indicative of his ambition to lead the franchise to its championship dreams.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the 76ers president of basketball operations, after seeing James' cryptic hourglass emoji tweet, called the Los Angeles Lakers front office to inquire about the 39-year old superstar's availability. Rob Pelinka, the Lakers' general manager, immediately rebuffed Morey's interest, saying that James wasn't available. According to Woj, Pelinka even delivered Morey a taste of his own medicine by asking whether Embiid was up for trade. That ended the conversation.
But Daryl Morey is clearly in the business of hunting for stars, so he will not be deterred when it comes to making those sorts of calls. Added Wojnarowski, the 76ers president also called the Phoenix Suns front office and asked if Kevin Durant was available for trade. (Prior to the trade deadline, not a year has passed since Durant became a member of the Suns, so no, he was not available.)
As the old adage goes, fortune favors the bold. It didn't hurt for the 76ers at all to inquire about whether or not it was possible to trade for some of the biggest stars in the game. Nevertheless, one could only applaud the audacity of Morey to do so.
In the end, what the 76ers did was pull off a trade for Buddy Hield and Cameron Payne while jettisoning the likes of Jaden Springer, Marcus Morris Sr., Patrick Beverley, Furkan Korkmaz, and Danuel House Jr. Philadelphia maintains flexibility with these moves as they try to go star-hunting in the summer when they have plenty of cap space.
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