Philadelphia 76ers: Did Tilman Fertitta purposely stick it to Daryl Morey?

When news broke that the Houston Rockets had officially agreed to a four-team trade that would ship James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets, it left many a fan of the Philadelphia 76ers in disarray.

Often viewed – rightfully or not – as the missing piece to a two-headed monster if paired up with Joel Embiid, the idea of having to watch the bearded one play alongside his former teammate Kevin Durant in a black, white, and whatever colorway jersey instead of Sixers red, white, and blue just felt painful.

Had Daryl Morey – the architect of an incredible offseason re-tooling – messed up? Surely he should know how impactful Harden can be on the court and would justifiably do everything in his power to bring that instant offense to the City of Brotherly Love, right?

Well, as it turns out, maybe the 76ers were never in the running at all.

Did Tilman Fertitta purposely take a worse deal to screw the Philadelphia 76ers?

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Since officially purchasing the team from Leslie Alexander in 2017, Tilman Fertitta has been a controversial NBA owner, to say the least.

The owners of ‘Landry’s, Inc.’, a restaurant conglomerate that just so happens to have been featured heavily in the league’s NBA Bubble dining options (coincidence?), Fertitta initially drew confusion and/or ire from fans the NBA over for a reported desire to “tread carefully” around the salary cap in 2018. At the time, the Rockets were really, really good, and even with a generational Golden State Warriors squad seemingly blocking their way to the Finals year after year, when you have an MVP candidate in their prime on your roster, that’s typically when teams are willing to pay a little extra to get over the top.

While the Rockets remained in serious contention since those comments were made, and their front office was allowed to make huge trades to push that desire along, when Morey and head coach Mike D’Antoni independently decided to walk away from their respective roles, it clearly left a bad taste in the Billionaire’s mouth.

With a new head coach and general manager in place, the Rockets prioritized saving money over immediate contention – going so far as to trade away their first-round pick and Trevor Ariza to the Detroit Pistons for a future first-rounder (and cap relief) – over making the sort of win-now moves you’d typically expect from a team pushing for a chip as an eventual divorce between the franchise and their best player became more and more obvious.

On Tuesday, January 12th, Harden effectively pushed his chips to the table by dropping some ether on the organization during his postgame comments – much to the chagrin of his unassuming teammates.

With offers on the table from the Nets and the Sixers, one would assume Rockets GM Rafael Stone would push the two teams into a bidding war and try to extract the best possible package to build up a new dynasty in Astroworld, right?

Yeah, you would think that, wouldn’t you?

Well, according to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, that probably wasn’t the case, as “Fertitta – the Houston Rockets owner – he was just adamant that they not make a deal with Philly, obviously with Daryl Morey being the GM over there now.” (as relayed by CBS Sports’ Brad Botkin). While that may seem borderline impossible to imagine, as why would any team want to take a worse package to stick it to a former executive, it lines up perfectly with what Keith Pompay reported on the subject at the Inquirer, stating that the Rockets “never called the Sixers back for a counteroffer”.

If the Sixers weren’t serious about getting the deal done, why would they have reportedly told Ben Simmons and Matisse Thybulle to expect a trade?

Even if the Sixers complied with the Rockets’ reported asking price – three picks, Simmons, Thybulle, and Tyrese Maxey, according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer – I imagine the Rockets would still have opted to go with a deal from Brooklyn, albeit one that may have included Joe Harris too, thanks to even more strengthened bargaining power.

… Wouldn’t the best way of screwing the Sixers over have been to take all of their picks and thrive with Simmons under contract for the next few years… *sigh* yeah, this one was personal.

Next. Frank Mason III is the perfect 18th man. dark

No, as hard as it may be to admit for fans who wanted to admit, James Harden was never going to be a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, not if their owner refused to let it happen. Even if the package the Houston Rockets ultimately accepted didn’t feature the All-NBA-level player they reportedly demanded, I imagine watching Harden and Daryl Morey hoisting up the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy would have hurt Tilman Fertitta far more than fielding a bad, cheap roster for the next few years while he waits to see if they can find the next James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, or Ben Simmons in the draft.