Sixers fire Daryl Morey after six seasons as president of basketball operations

Gina Mizell, The Philadelphia Inquirer on May 12, 2026

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PHILADELPHIA — Daryl Morey has been fired as the Philadelphia 76ers’ president of basketball operations, a source confirmed to The Philadelphia Inquirer on Tuesday.

Morey’s dismissal comes after the Sixers pulled off a first-round playoff upset of the Boston Celtics, but were then swept by the New York Knicks over the weekend.

The Sixers finished 45-37 during the 2025-26 regular season to finish seventh in the Eastern Conference, then beat the Orlando Magic in the play-in tournament to advance to the first round.

Morey oversaw the front office for six seasons, during which the Sixers never advanced past the playoffs’ second round. The executive’s tenure overlapped with Joel Embiid’s ascension into the 2023 NBA Most Valuable Player, and struggles with numerous injuries that interrupted seasons and derailed postseason runs. Morey also was forced to navigate the tumultuous Ben Simmons and James Harden’s sagas, executing blockbuster trades when both players requested out of Philly.

The front office under Morey’s watch also drafted two-time All-Star Tyrese Maxey at 21st overall in 2020, and All-Rookie first-teamer VJ Edgecombe third overall last summer. Morey also executed some shrewd around-the-edges moves, including trading for Quentin Grimes at last year’s deadline, adding three-year starter Kelly Oubre Jr. on a veteran’s minimum contract in 2023, and signing rotation regulars Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker to two-way contracts before they were converted to standard deals.

But during the 2024 offseason, Morey signed Paul George to a max contract and Embiid to a max extension. Both players have not been regularly available since, and a 2024-25 season that began with championship aspirations quickly descended into a 24-58 disaster.

Earlier this season, Morey also drew outside criticism for trading Jared McCain — who was an early Rookie of the Year frontrunner before meniscus surgery – for draft picks and saying he believed the Sixers were “selling high” on the second-year guard. McCain has been in the playoff rotation for the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, including scoring 18 points in 18 minutes in Game 2 of their second-round win over the Los Angeles Lakers and shooting 12 of 20 from 3-point range in that series sweep.

Morey is one of the NBA’s best-known executives, thanks to his position at the forefront of the sport’s analytics movement. Before coming to Philly, he was an executive for the Houston Rockets from 2006-20, during Harden’s rise to become the league’s leading scorer and 2018 MVP. Morey also worked in the Boston Celtics’ front office, and is one of the founders of the Sloan Sports Analytics conference.