With the addition of Paul George earlier this month, Daryl Morey got exactly the superstar he wanted alongside Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Moreover, the Sixers President did it all while successfully staying under the second apron of luxury tax, failing which would have led to severe penalties. However, coming from the man himself, there was a brief moment after signing PG when Morey almost made another blockbuster trade that could have jeopardized the Sixers’ future and put them on a payroll upwards of $300 million!

“There was a trade pretty soon after Paul came where we would have to given up quite a few of those picks. Our payroll, not this year because we can’t, but next year would’ve been $315 million,” he said on the Rights to Ricky Sanchez podcast. Although Morey did not reveal the parties that were involved in the deal, there are speculations that the player in question was Utah Jazz star Lauri Markkanen.

Moreover, it is possible that Morey was looking for a reliable player at the 4th position and Lauri might’ve been the one to fit the bill at that expense. And since Danny Ainge has been adamant about getting young talent along with multiple draft picks in exchange for Markkanen, it would make sense why Morey was considering trading away his future picks. However, as the deal never took place, we cannot be fully certain who Morey was talking about.

But by not making that move, he might have saved the franchise from a major financial crisis, as their cap allocation for next season is only $178.2 million, well below the second apron threshold. That means they can still sign some decent players while not facing penalties, which they would have had Morey gone with the $315 million decision. However, Morey also claimed that the said trade would have been ideal for him, “That would be ideal. Like we are right there.” Maybe, he believes that the trade would have made the Sixers immediate title contenders with the addition of a fourth superstar. But, the move would have been too risky had it not worked out.

Are the Sixers’ off-season additions enough to win a title?

Obviously, the biggest addition for Philly this summer is Paul George, who inked a four-year $212 million deal to form arguably the NBA’s most lethal Big 3 next season. And while Morey didn’t make the aforementioned mega-deal, he did add some solid pieces around his core superstars. Close to the PG signing, the Sixers also added forward Caleb Martin to the roster with a four-year $32 million deal. With his playoff experience in Miami that even helped the team reach the NBA Finals, Martin could be a solid 3andD guy for Philly.

Moreover, Morey also added two veteran leaders Eric Gordon and Andre Drummond, both on two-year deals. And they could be highly productive coming off the bench and would also take some load off the starters’ shoulders by taking over occasionally.

With so much firepower, the Sixers President is so confident in his roster that he even threatened the reigning champs Boston Celtics that they would soon be dethroned, “Obviously, you gotta give the Celtics their credit. They won the title. They’re an excellent team. They brought everybody back. They’re the target, but, you know, we don’t feel like we give up anything to them and we’re going to be coming to take the title away from them.”

While that is a bold claim, we will only see if the Sixers can back it once the season begins.

Before you go, do not forget to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr.