The Whiteboard: So how long until the 76ers trade for James Harden?

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Hiring a new president of basketball operations does not mean the superstar tandem of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons is over as we know it.

Yet, at least.

On Wednesday, the Philadelphia 76ers gave their rudderless boat an actual bearing for the first time in years, finalizing a deal for Daryl Morey to oversee the roster as team president. It’s a welcome move to bring in one of the NBA’s most respected and successful executives, even if the makeup of his former team and his new one couldn’t be less alike.

The Houston Rockets thrived in the pick-and-roll, embracing a new era of analytics like never before by consistently hunting the game’s most efficient shots: 3-pointers and layups. With James Harden as their maestro, Morey went the extra mile this past season by trading away the team’s centers for more versatile wings who could shoot, making his boldest attempt yet to overcome size with small-ball.

It didn’t work, as the mega-sized Los Angeles Lakers bounced Houston from the second round of the playoffs in five quick games, but that had as much to do with Harden’s annual playoff dip, Russell Westbrook’s atrocious play and Danuel House’s absence as anything else.

In Philly, however, Morey will try to influence a drastically dissimilar roster. The Sixers have two young, proven stars in Embiid and Simmons but no reputable 3-point marksmen, and they’re bogged down by the hefty contracts owed to Al Horford and Tobias Harris.

When a new team president is brought in after a disappointing season, along with a new head coach like Doc Rivers, it’s only natural to wonder if big changes are on the horizon.

The answer is … maybe?

On the one hand, the 76ers desperately need a roster overhaul. Harris is a good but vastly overpaid player. Horford is a great veteran but a poor fit, and one whose career is on the downturn from here. Josh Richardson disappeared into the fold with only so many touches to go around. This won’t be an easy fix, even for a basketball mind who’s notorious for working the minutia of the NBA salary cap to his advantage like Morey.

On the other hand, Morey leaving Houston — a team that’s on the verge of imploding thanks to the Westbrook trade and all the money owed to him, Harden and Eric Gordon — and joining a Sixers organization that may need to face facts about its dynamic duo is certainly worth monitoring. Morey showered Harden with praise throughout his tenure in Clutch City, and rightfully so, and it’s not hard to see how a trade might be beneficial for both sides.

With Morey and head coach Mike D’Antoni bolting this summer, the writing is on the wall for the Rockets. This franchise has continually gone downhill since owner Tillman Fertitta took over, and with Harden and Russ both being 31 years old, the clock is ticking. Harden is only on the books through 2022, with a $47.4 million player option for 2022-23 that may look less and less appealing if Houston’s roster is in shambles and suitors start lining up.

Morey took that team to its furthest possible conclusion of ultra small-ball. It wasn’t enough. Now, Houston has zero titles to show for it and owes its first-round picks (2020, 2024, 2026) or swap rights (2021, 2025) in five of the next seven drafts. There’s nowhere near enough wiggle room to surround Harden with the supporting cast he needs to win a title as long as Westbrook and Gordon remain.

So how long before the Beard reads the room and decides he wants out?

In the City of Brotherly Love, his former GM may just be biding his time, waiting for this mess of a Sixers roster to blow up and hoping the timing of its detonation coincides with the Rockets’ inevitable implosion.

On the other hand, a lot needs to happen between now and then for such a reunion to occur. A change in philosophy may do wonders for the Sixers, because even if Simmons remains borderline affronted by the idea of shooting 3-pointers himself, he’s generated more 3s for his teammates than any other player in the NBA since 2017-18, his first year in the league. He’s efficient around the rim and generates triples for a team that will commit to taking a lot more of them moving forward.

So while it’s comical that Morey is going from a team whose starting five had nobody over 6-foot-7 to a team whose lineup almost only has players above 6-foot-7, the former Rockets executive has a proven track record of merging his analytically-driven philosophy with the talent at his disposal. “Analytics” doesn’t just mean “shoot a s**t-ton of 3s.” It means hunting for the most efficient shots available, which will be a welcome change in Philly.

At some point though, the stars have to realign for the Sixers to stay the current course. After such an underwhelming year, even another bumpy season might be the breaking point. Ben Simmons is coming off a knee injury and is alarmingly averse to perimeter shooting. Joel Embiid, meanwhile, is a career 31.9 percent long-range shooter, and his 379 points on post-ups in 51 games outpaced all but seven NBA teams last year over the entire season. The mindsets and skill-sets of these players are a stark contrast from what Morey’s used to, and he’ll have to jam a round peg in a square hole to make this work at the start.

If that proves to be too difficult, and the Sixers aren’t reaching new heights after much-needed roster tweaks arrive to better complement their star duo, a blockbuster Harden deal will start to look more and more appealing for both sides.

#OtherContent

The only reason I hesitate to call a James Harden trade to Philly inevitable is more adequately laid out here by The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania has the story from NBPA executive director Michele Roberts as to why the players and the union are rightfully concerned about a potential start date of Dec. 22, as well as a few juicy salary cap details.

Finally … did you happen to check out FanSided 2030 yet?