After improving the roster this offseason, Philadelphia 76ers general manager Daryl Morey is beginning to get unnecessarily confident.
Heading into the start of this offseason, Philadelphia 76ers general manager Daryl Morey was under immense pressure. Morey needed to figure out how to significantly upgrade the roster around Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, and that's exactly what he managed to do. There was concern and doubt at times but Morey pulled it off. The punctuation-level move of the offseason included the Sixers signing Paul George away from the LA Clippers.
In addition to adding PG, the Sixers also signed Caleb Martin, Reggie Jackson, Eric Gordon, and Andre Drummond, along with bringing back Kyle Lowry, Kelly Oubre Jr., and KJ Martin. Assuming health, there's a very good chance that the Sixers are going to emerge as one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.
Even though that's likely to be the case, I'm not sure that's something a team like the Sixers should be bragging about - especially considering their lack of playoff success in recent history. But it doesn't seem as if that message was relayed to Morey.
When speaking about where he believes the Sixers rank in the East, Morey said that the Sixers "are going to be coming to take the title away from them."
Do the Philadelphia 76ers carry that same confidence?
On the one hand, you have to appreciate the confidence that Morey has after making big moves this offseason. That's what you would expect from a person in the front office. At the same time, I'm not sure that's something you want on the record. Even if Morey does sincerely believe that the Sixers will be in a position to knock off the Celtics this year, you kind of keep those comments to yourself.
Especially if you're not a player. The last thing the Sixers need is a non-player to be applying more pressure on the team. And that's exactly what Morey is doing with this statement. It may seem innocent but you can bet there are people in Boston that will be remembering this comment for the rest of the year.
The Sixers are 100 percent improved, at least on paper. But they're still plenty of proving they have to do before they're considered a certified championship contender. Even more so if they want to be considered in the same conversation as the Boston Celtics.
The Sixers' time may come but Morey may have to cool off with these comments before he ends up writing a check that the team can't cash.