Daryl Morey tried to trade for LeBron James at the deadline. Here’s how that phone call went.
Morey also tried to get Suns star Kevin Durant at the deadline, according to ESPN.
The Sixers had an eventful trade deadline, adding Buddy Hield and trading away Marcus Morris Sr., Patrick Beverley, and more.
But after Joel Embiid’s injury, many felt like the Sixers needed to make a huge splash in order to stay near the top of the Eastern Conference. According to reporting from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne, president of basketball operations Daryl Morey tried to do just that.
After seeing LeBron James’ cryptic post on X, formerly Twitter, of an hourglass emoji just before the deadline, Morey called the Lakers to inquire about his availability in a trade. Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka shut that idea down quickly.
“[Morey] was immediately told that James wasn’t available,” Wojnarowski and Shelburne reported. “In fact, Pelinka responded by asking Morey if Joel Embiid was available, sources said. And that ended that brief conversation. These sorts of bold trade calls are historically a common practice for Morey, who also called the Phoenix Suns and asked about the availability of [Kevin] Durant, only to be told Durant was not available, sources said.”
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The Sixers could potentially create nearly $65 million in cap space this offseason after their trade deadline moves, which would be enough to bring in James, who is making over $47 million in 2023-24. James can become a free agent after this year if he chooses to decline his $51 million player option with Los Angeles.
It’s long been expected that James will decline that option but ultimately re-sign with the Lakers. However, Wojnarowski and Shelburne reported that many of the teams who attempted to acquire James at the deadline, including Philadelphia, will be interested in bringing James in as a free agent.