So far we've looked at four of the five most commonly cited mistakes centered around players that the current 76er's front office has made. I've attempted to defend them so far, arguing essentially that the mistakes are very obvious in hindsight but not at the time. Or in the case of Redick and Butler, not really the front office's choice. Now we come to the fifth and final mistake, and I do mean mistake. This is the big one that has truly cost this franchise and set it back years.
The signing of Al Horford was a giant mistake for a number of reasons. I'll be a little nice at first. Embiid notoriously had trouble with Horford, so taking a vital piece away from the Celtics, who they would almost definitely have to go through is not the worst decision. And Horford is known as an extremely versatile player. He wasn't an obvious fit next to Embiid or Harris or Simmons, but it was thought that he and Brett Brown could make something work. Turns out, that wasn't the case. Horford was constantly moved around the lineup, sometimes on the bench, and had a career low in shooting percentage and one of his lowest points per game in his thirteen year career. They could never really figure out what they wanted to do with him. He couldn't really play with Embiid, but is also sort of a waste if he's only a backup center playing the 15 minutes Embiid is not.. He is a good 3-point shooter for the center position, but far from a sniper, which this 76er's team desperately needed.
Horford wasn't a good fit, and either Brown didn't have a plan for him going in, or the plan he did have quickly failed and the 76er's couldn't figure anything else out. In the playoffs this year he averaged seven points a game and didn't make a single three. Acquiring Horford was thus a mistake. At the time as well, it seemed to be a "hope this guy works out" rather than Horford fitting any sort of clear need in the team. That in itself wouldn't be disastrous. No, it's the contract that they gave him that was truly a mind-boggling mistake.
With no real plan (or realistic plan) to use Horford, they committed 109 million to him for four years. Horford was entering his age 33 season, and they signed him for four years. They gave 25 million a year to a guy that was never going to be a cornerstone for them. This meant they couldn't sign Redick, someone they needed much more, and they are stuck with him for at least two more years. In the fourth year he can be cut and the 76er's will be on the hook for 14 million instead of the full amount. That is far too much money even at the time to give to a person that didn't have a clear use on the team, and proved to have no real use on the team. And it is too many years for a guy that's 33 and wasn't going to get any better.
Once again, to be fair, other teams were offering Horford four year deals, and some were reportedly also around the 100 million mark. The 76er's paid either the going rate or slightly above. But unlike the Celtics or the Kings, the other two teams interested in Horford (not a huge market there) the 76er's didn't have a clear need at center. The 76er's outbid the Celtics for his service, and it really seems like a move that was first and foremost trying to take a player from the Celtics. But you don't do that for 25 million a year.
So now the 76er's have two albatross contracts on their books for a long time. Harris will never fully live up to his max deal, but at least he's a usable piece, especially with Simmons around. He is also not old, and is unlikely to see his performance decline dramatically over the course of the contract. He also may not improve, but if he can provide 17-20 points on good efficiency that's a possible third player on a championship team. You know what Harris is, and at his best he's useful piece. Horford on the other hand, showed that there still isn't really a plan to use him. We don't know what he is at his best, we don't know if he's a useful piece. He certainly wasn't against the Celtics.
So there we have it. Five player moves analyzed. Four of them I think are justifiable, if risky. They all turned out to be mistakes, and unfortunately you just can't fail every time you make a move justified or not, so there's no doubt the 76er's need new faces in the front office. Then there was the one move that was truly a disaster, both in hindsight and without. But we aren't done yet. In the final piece, we will look at the last move that many say the front office got wrong; the decision to make any moves at all.
