Daryl Morey’s deadline deal for Jalen McDaniels ultimately did not yield much for the Sixers.
McDaniels has agreed to a two-year, $9.3 million contract with the Raptors, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Saturday night.
After acquiring McDaniels in February, Morey said he had “starter potential.”
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“We’d like him to obviously have a great run to help us win a championship this year and then re-sign him — we have his Bird rights — and hopefully continue it here,” said Morey, the Sixers’ president of basketball operations. “But given his size, athleticism, he has everything we need —someone we can build around going forward.”
Morey believed that McDaniels could be a useful postseason player for the Sixers. With the Hornets, the 25-year-old wing made zero playoff appearances.
“We really think Jalen’s sort of a hidden gem,” Morey said. “Sometimes when teams struggle that much, there are players who really just need an opportunity to show what they can do on a better team. We feel like Jalen’s a player like that. Obviously, we’ll see how he plays down the stretch going into the playoffs.”
In 24 regular-season games with the Sixers, McDaniels averaged 6.7 points and 3.2 rebounds. His athleticism in the open floor, positional size, and knack for cutting were all clear positives. The playoffs did not pan out as Morey envisioned, though. McDaniels began the postseason in head coach Doc Rivers’ rotation — he even played the final 13-plus minutes of the Sixers' Round 1, Game 2 win over the Nets — but didn’t keep his spot. McDaniels was just 3 for 9 in the playoffs from three-point range.
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As part of the four-team trade that brought them McDaniels, the Sixers gave away Matisse Thybulle and a 2023 second-round draft pick. They received second-rounders in 2024 and 2029.
Thybulle was a two-time All-Defensive selection as a Sixer whose offensive flaws tended to appear especially limiting in the playoffs. He played 22 games last season with the Trail Blazers and posted 7.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals per contest while shooting 38.8 percent from three-point territory. Portland extended Thybulle a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent.
On the first night of free agency, Georges Niang (Cavs) and Shake Milton (Timberwolves) reportedly agreed to deals that will see them leave the Sixers. Internally, Paul Reed was the one significant Sixers free agent remaining as of Saturday night. The team has extended him a qualifying offer.
The Sixers did add a role player Saturday prior to McDaniels’ Raptors deal, coming to terms with veteran guard Patrick Beverley on a one-year contract.
