Daryl Morey lands Paul George, his top target and the free agency’s biggest star, in pivotal Sixers summer

Daryl Morey said this is how he would attack the 76ers’ pivotal offseason.

The lead executive pushed back during his end-of-season news conference when questioned about the age of the stars expected to be available on the free-agent market, and the risks of signing one to a lengthy max contract. He stood firm when asked if the three-star model was still the most viable in the modern NBA — especially under new CBA rules that severely limit the roster-building flexibility of teams that spend too much.

“Get studs,” Morey said, " … Then, you can put the work and the onus on the front office to find the players that fit around it.”

The result of such an approach? The Sixers landed their top target — by some estimators, their only target — in perennial All-Star wing Paul George. He agreed in the early-morning hours Monday to a four-year, $212 million max contract, a source confirmed to The Inquirer, forming a trio with 2023 NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid and All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey that the Sixers hope can challenge the newly crowned champion Boston Celtics at the top of the Eastern Conference.

» READ MORE: Andre Drummond set to return to the Sixers on 2-year, $10 million deal

The Sixers have been plotting for this summer splash for nearly a year, viewing it as a critical opportunity to build around Embiid and Maxey at the end of Tobias Harris’ hefty five-year contract. It is why they solely received players on expiring contracts (along with draft capital) in the James Harden blockbuster trade last fall, allowing the Sixers to enter free agency with more than $60 million in cap space that could be put toward another max-level player.

Months ago, the list of high-profile names who could become available on the open market this summer included LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, and George. Those options dwindled during the ensuing months or days.

Leonard and Davis signed contract extensions with the Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers, respectively. Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby agreed to remain with the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks, respectively, after joining those teams in midseason trades. Though James declined his player option for 2024-25 with the Lakers, he will almost certainly re-sign a new deal after the team drafted his son, Bronny, on Thursday and hired podcasting partner JJ Redick to be its next head coach. Even younger trade targets Mikal Bridges and Dejounte Murray were moved to the New York Knicks and New Orleans Pelicans, respectively, within the past week.

Yet this weekend, signal after signal emerged that the Sixers were about to lure George away from his hometown Clippers, where he had played since 2019 after orchestrating a shocking trade to team up with Leonard.

George on Saturday evening declined his $48.8 million player option for 2024-25, all but eliminating the possibility he could be traded to the Golden State Warriors.

In the opening hours of free agency, coveted 3-and-D wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope reportedly agreed to sign a three-year, $66 million deal with the Orlando Magic, the other team expected to meet with George and with the cap space to directly sign him.

Then, the Clippers released an official statement that George had “informed us that he is signing his next contract with another team.”

“We negotiated for months with Paul and his representative on a contract that would make sense for both sides, and we were left far apart,” the statement added. “The gap was significant. We understand and respect Paul’s decision to look elsewhere for his next contract.”

» READ MORE: Source: Tobias Harris receiving free-agency interest from Pistons, Jazz, Spurs, and Mavericks

Around 3:30 a.m. Monday, news finally broke that George had agreed to the lucrative deal with the Sixers.

Questions from some outsiders linger about Paul’s age (he turned 34 in May) and injury history. With the Sixers, he will share the load with Embiid and Maxey. And the Sixers’ need for an upgrade here was evident while Embiid missed two months to recover from knee surgery, when the still-developing Maxey and too-often-inconsistent Harris could not prevent their team from tumbling down the Eastern Conference standings.

The Sixers also made three smaller moves in the opening hours of free agency, a source confirmed to The Inquirer. They welcomed back athletic wing Kelly Oubre Jr. on a two-year, $16.3 million contract. They will reunite with Andre Drummond, whom Embiid once called the best backup center of his career, with a two-year $10-plus million deal. They added long-range shooter Eric Gordon, another former Houston Rocket under Morey, on a veteran’s minimum contract.

» READ MORE: Report: Nico Batum, a valued Sixers veteran, will not return to Philly

Uncertainty still remains about how the Sixers will handle the rest of their own free agents. The Athletic reported that respected veteran forward Nico Batum will not return to Philly. Entering the offseason, Kyle Lowry, the veteran point guard and North Philly native, was among the players the Sixers hoped to retain. Their other free agents are Harris, Buddy Hield, De’Anthony Melton, Cameron Payne, KJ Martin, Robert Covington, Mo Bamba, and Jeff Dowtin.

Before Sunday, Morey’s Sixers tenure had largely been defined by how he navigated messy departures of disgruntled stars.

First, the Ben Simmons holdout, which ultimately brought back Harden in a 2022 deadline blockbuster trade. Then, the Harden fiasco, for which Morey is at least partially responsible, but ended with a respectable deal early last season. Embiid, meanwhile, was already morphing into an MVP-caliber player long before Morey arrived in 2020. The executive is even tentative to take credit for drafting Maxey with the 21st overall pick, noting the bulk of the scouting work occurred before he arrived.

This was the chance for Morey to lure a star to the Sixers. To capitalize on a year of plotting. To make that free-agency splash.

And he landed the biggest stud available.

Join Inquirer beat reporters Gina Mizell and Keith Pompey, as they recap the flurry of initial signings for the Sixers and around the league at noon on Monday. Watch the stream here.