One of the funny things about Daryl Morey's reputation as a front-office gunslinger is that his entire career has been built on the foundation of a trade that disproves the notion that the best way to build an NBA title contender is with established NBA superstars.
The first time he acquired James Harden, the price was essentially three first-round picks and a rotation-caliber 28-year-old shooting guard without any elite skills. At the time, Harden was 23 years old and entering his fourth season in the league, putting him close to the same juncture of his career as Ben Simmons is now. Harden was hardly an unknown, but he'd started just seven games in his professional career, and was deemed expendable by a team that was coming off what looked to be the first of several NBA Finals berths. In short, he was not a superstar.
Embiid is soaring to new heights as a scoring title is within reach
