CAMDEN, N.J. – Sixers President of Basketball Operations walked into the team's practice gym on Friday afternoon, knowing full well what was going to ensue.

Morey acknowledged, after the first time in his six-year tenure where he did not acquire any players under contract at a trade deadline, that he was disappointed at his inability to find rotation upgrades for head coach Nick Nurse.

But Morey still preached optimism about this group, arguing that, save for Jared McCain, it is the same exciting team that compelled fans to hope for big swings at this deadline.

A brand new Sixers soundbites, with each and every quote from Morey's 29-minute media availability filled with questions about his inaction:

• Morey's opening statement:

"I want to start off by thanking Jared McCain and Eric Gordon for their time here. They were big for us on and off the court. Eric obviously didn't get as much of a chance to play this season, but off the court was important, especially with a guy like VJ [Edgecombe] and his development. Jared, obviously, tremendous human, tremendous player. We wish him well in OKC. We think he has a tremendous future. Wish him well.I do want to say that I understand the reaction of the fans, but I feel like that comes from folks [being] excited about this team, and that's why we've had this reaction. And they should be excited. I think everyone sees out there, we have a healthy Joel Embiid rounding into form, we have Tyrese Maxey taking a leap, a deserved All-Star. We’ve got a bunch of guys stepping up as well: Kelly Oubre [Jr.] is playing his best basketball of his career, we love the bigs we have with Joel and [Andre Drummond and Adem Bona]. We feel like guys are contributing up and down the roster. Coach Nurse has done a tremendous job putting us in with the top few teams in the East in terms of how we’re playing. That's why we understand the fan reaction. The big move was with Jared. Because we're playing well, we were trying to upgrade the team and add to the team now. That was goal number one. Obviously, no deal materialized, including using the picks we got from the Jared deal. We were trying to. That's why we did that move a little early. We were trying to reuse those draft picks to add now. We do feel like this deal sets us up better in the future, but we understand that – we were looking to add now, and nothing materialized. With that, I’ll take questions, but I do want folks to know that this team, we think, can make a deep playoff run as one of the top few teams in the East. We feel like that's still the case going forward. We were very careful to make sure that the core parts of the rotation were intact. The Eric move primarily was to set up what we could do with [Dominick] Barlow – not primarily, [it] was the only reason. And [it] allowed us to get a guy that we found who's contributing in a very good way, to not have to go to unrestricted free agency. We didn't think that was good business, so we were happy to reward him with a good contract and potentially something that we can work out even a better contract in the future like what we've done in the past with players in that situation."

• Morey on what he says to fans who think he was merely focused on getting the Sixers under the luxury tax for the sake of saving ownership money:

"I'd say we were trying to add to the team, and we didn't find a deal that made sense that we thought could move the needle on our ability to win this year. The CBA pressures were felt up and down the league. To do the Barlow move, to get him on a good long-term deal because of the first apron, we had to do moves to create that opportunity. But that wasn't the primary reason for the Jared deal. We felt that we see Jared as someone who is more likely to help a team in the future. I think that's fairly obvious. I think he has a bright future. We thought that the draft picks we got will help us more in the future and could have helped us this deadline, in terms of – the picks we got were offered to many teams, and nothing materialized for a player that we thought could move the needle with those picks now. But we feel like going forward, those picks will help us build the team in the future in a good way."

A note based on the two answers above plus Morey's later comments about needing to be below the first apron to ensure Barlow was signed to a long-term deal...

• Morey on whether or not any players on the roster were "untouchable" in trade talks:

"Yeah, with the hesitation that in the NBA, it feels like nothing, you know... things happen. We have some as close to untouchable players as you might have in this league in Tyrese and Joel and VJ, Paul [George]. We like our core. We really think it's a very good core. Obviously, we need to prove that on the court, and I think lately we have been proving it to a higher level. But, yeah, I'd say we have, you know, as close as you get to untouchable."

MORE: Instant reaction to McCain trade

• Morey on why George is part of the above group:

“We really like what Paul gives us, and in fact, one of the focuses was: could we find someone that while Paul's out for this period before he gets back for the last ten games, who can step in there? But we didn't see anything that would contribute more than Barlow's given us, than… obviously, we've been playing different players at that position when Paul's been out this season. [Trendon] Watford, you could argue, defensively, has played there sometimes. Coach has gotten creative with lineups with Bona and things like that. I think [Nurse] has done a tremendous job taking the pieces that he has and putting them in the best situation for us to win, and we've been playing pretty good basketball of late, obviously, yesterday was a disappointment… We were looking for maybe something that could shore us up while Paul's out, but we like so much what Barlow's given us that we didn't see anything that would hurdle what he's given us."

• Morey on if he has spoken with Embiid since the deadline after Embiid's comments last week about not wanting to see the team duck the luxury tax instead of improving:

"Yeah, I mean, with all our top players, we update them throughout, of both the moves and some of the potential opportunities out there. I think we all wanted to add to the team, and I took his comments to heart. I feel like myself and the front office, we're stewards of the team, and we're here to make the team better. I think we've done a lot of good things to get the team in this situation, but for this deadline, I understand the reaction that we did have. But I feel like if folks were excited about the team before, the same group that they were excited about before is going out there, obviously save Jared. But we feel like with Watford and other guys stepping up, that we can not miss a beat with the players we have on our roster."

• Morey on why he did not wait to trade McCain given his sophomore struggles after a thrilling rookie season, at least until he was sure he could utilize the draft picks he was receiving:

"I appreciate that perspective. I am quite confident we were selling high. Obviously, timing thing, but the only other high point – and weren't looking to sell, I'll be frank. Like, teams came to us with aggressive offers for him, and you could say, "Yeah, that's 'cause he's a good player." I agree with that. We thought this return was above, for the future value for our franchise, what, we could get [from McCain]. So the only higher point would have been during his run last season. But otherwise, we feel like we did time this well."

• Morey on whether or not he feels the organization has alignment in decision-making given discrepancies between "win-now" moves like the George signing last summer and an inactive deadline when the team is performing well this season:

"I do believe we are aligned. I went through – I didn’t get to talk about VJ, I'm glad you did – I mean, everything we have there is that he's on pace to be someone who's got a real chance to be a future All-Star, and he's playing great, great basketball, especially in ends of games where we've been in a lot of close games. I think it's 100 percent aligned. Obviously, we're in a phase where ‘win now’ makes sense. I would just ask – and this is probably something we can talk [about] offline – the opportunities that were out there, we didn't see any that moved the needle for our team. We just didn't. I'd be happy to talk offline with folks on which deals they saw that could have moved the needle for us, that we could have done. They just weren't there."

• Morey on the Sixers' current standing within the Eastern Conference:

"We like our chances in the East. We feel like we're in the mix with the top teams there. Obviously, we've got to prove that on the court. I'm just reiterating: we were hoping to add, and then we didn't add. But we still believe in this team. Like, it's still the team that people believed in. Folks have speculated on the improvements of our East competitors. I don't see it, personally. I think all the teams made moves at the deadline, but there weren't any needle-movers in my opinion."

MORE: Sixers sign Dominick Barlow to multiyear standard contract

• Morey on if the team lost faith in McCain:

"I wouldn't say that, no. I think he has a tremendous future. Sort of the tell [if] people don't like the deal, they'll leave off the whole return, minimize this draft, which we think is good, things like that. Folks who don't like the deal, they'll minimize. That return is for a starter quality player on a good team. That is – it's actually above that. We do a lot of analysis on how we think things will play out, both here and around the league going forward in terms of the quality of play, what kinds of returns will return, what players in the future. And the bottom line is, Jared's a player who is a great future bet and a potential great player, and we wish him luck. We feel like this return sets us up better to set up the team in the future better. That doesn't address our team now, so we did want to add now, and it didn't happen. So I think that's a fair reaction. And then I think it's a fair reaction… ‘Did you time this well? Is this a fair return?’ All I can say is we do a lot of work on this, and we feel like it was well above that, and well above what will help us down the road."

• Morey on if, with only three rotation-caliber guards now on roster, he still believes in having as many ball-handlers as possible as he discussed after selecting Edgecombe in June:

"Well, that's a good point. I think what Nick does better than maybe any coach in the league is – and I think this is where the great coaches separate themselves, in my personal opinion – takes the talent you have and figures out the best way to use them, both offensively and defensively. We had a very deep set of guards. We still do. We still have three – like, our guard rotation on Tyrese, VJ, and Quentin [Grimes], we feel stacks up very well around the league. The reason why I think we were playing a lot of three-guard lineups is because Nick was like, ‘That's our best way to win.’ But we were playing those less, frankly, I think you guys know that. That was, again, giving us the best chance to win… We were playing less of those. Does that factor in? It was more, like – because you can go in and out of three-guard lineups. It was more, [McCain’s] path here is a little bit muted relative to where his path could be on another team. It would be hard for him to get to starter quality, which was the return that we got, just to simplify it a little bit."

• Morey on if he thinks former Sixers guard James Harden being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers is not a "needle-moving" trade:

"I don't want to talk about specific teams. I'm just saying, objectively, the teams in the East, the array is similar if you were to look at teams’ chances before and after. That's just my opinion, and people can have differences of opinion."

MORE: Sixers future draft pick tracker

• Morey on the sustainability of Embiid's current play and availability:

"I see he's still improving, when I watch. Obviously, credit to Joel, who's put in tremendous time and work to get to even the run he's gotten to. So I think we do need to acknowledge that and really talk about – and he's been very gracious to talk about the people around him who help him – but I think mostly it's the work he's put in to get to here. But I continue to see improvement. I know from my conversations with him that he feels like he's improving still. So we'll see, obviously, time will tell… I will say, you know, we talked a lot about [how] we thought that Joel could still get to this level and play this level, and I think there was a lot of very reasonable skepticism that [it was] the case. But all I ever had was talking to our medical staff and doctors, and there was a lot of confidence that he could get to this place if he puts the time in, and he has. And so I feel like that one has played out in a positive way, and we do think it's sustainable, and we are excited about it. Yeah."

• Morey on if he is concerned about the team's lack of guard depth forcing Maxey and Edgecombe into overburdened roles:

"We feel like we're a deep team, and again, people might not agree, but we do feel like a deep team. In fact, there are many people who were writing that we're a deep team, so it wasn't just our opinion. I do think Nick is arranging, or using our players in an optimal way to win games. For sure, you always want more good players than bad players. We still have two roster spots… Obviously, we're thrilled to use one of [our three open roster] spots on Barlow. So we'll continue to look to add in that marketplace as well. But we do feel like we're a deep team. But even if we're a deep team, it doesn't mean that, you know, playing guys how Nick is playing them is – I agree with Coach Nurse. I think he's using our players in the best way to win games."

• Morey on if ownership was willing to allow him to surpass the luxury tax threshold and what his working relationship with Josh Harris and David Blitzer is like:

"For sure if we had found an add and we were going to end up higher, we would have ended up above it. We've done it several times while I was here. Over the history of ownership, they've done it many times. We didn't see something that did that, and then we're under the normal pressures that every team is feeling, the CBA and the first apron, to sign Barlow to this deal, and things like that… They're completely supportive. They provide all the resources we can. Both David and Josh are very engaged and involved, but in a good way, asking good questions, things like that. And when we're talking about, ‘Hey, here's potential deals we can do,’ it's a trade-off. How much will he help? What are we having to give up? Where do we end up relative to the CBA? All those things factor in. But they're tremendous support for us, and appropriately involved, is what I would say."

• Morey on whether one of the team's two open roster spots can be filled by two-way power forward Jabari Walker, was inactive for the first time on Thursday after using up his 50 games of availability in the first 50 games of the season:

"For sure. I have to reference the CBA we all live under. It's sort of annoying, I'll use the word, that just how it all works, that Jabari can't play for some games here. But he's obviously been part of our ‘next man up’ mentality. I think Coach Nurse has done a good job, when we've had players in and out, which we've had less of this year, but we've still had quite a bit, especially with recent Paul news, things like that. He's been a tremendous next-man-up type contributor, and we hope to have his services, but we do have to weigh optimal use of our scarce two roster spots, and against the other opportunities as well. So that will be written over time, whether or not we do that conversion."

• Morey on whether he anticipates the Sixers being players in the buyout market:

"I think we're in the mix. I think they see a really good team or a really good market. We’ve had a lot of conversations already. We're obviously in competition with other teams, so I don't know if we'll get the first option necessarily, but we'll be in there with getting some of the top options."

• Morey on if Nurse had any input over the team's possible deals:

"We're sort of one team. Obviously, we worked together prior to here, so he's apprised of every possible move. Both two days ago and yesterday, there were a few [deals] that seemed like they were close, and he was somewhat excited about it if we were able to get it done. But we didn't, so I think just like the front office, ownership, myself, coaches, players were like, ‘Hey, it would have been nice to add," you know, we all wish we had. But I would say the team that's been playing well is still out there and still in a good shape, and we feel like the future is better as well."

• Morey on how disappointed he was by George's 25-game suspension:

"I think no one's more disappointed than Paul. Obviously, he's talked to his teammates... He wants to be out there fighting more than anybody, and he will be. He's going to come back and have a strong ten games into the playoffs. I focus most on how a guy plays when he's out there, and he's playing tremendously out there. Obviously, really critical to our defense, and then contributing [with] shooting. He was a big part of how much shooting we had, and obviously, playing 30-40 minutes, a really important part of the team."

• Morey on if the McCain trade was more appealing to him because the first-round pick acquired comes in a loaded 2026 class:

"So that wasn't the main focus. I think it's a nice focus because we do think this draft is a good draft, but we're not necessarily using the pick in this draft. It could be used for moves around the draft. The three seconds that we got with it, we think could be used to move up in this draft. I and our front office have done a lot of deals over the years, and this just gives us more tools to make the moves that we think will help our future more than we saw in Jared, who we gave up. But that's not a comment on Jared. That's just literally, we think, given our team, this was the right move to set us up down the road in a better way, and this core, this team is attacked and will still win at the level they were going to win before the deadline. We just didn't add."

• Morey on where the team could still use roster reinforcements:

"We have two [spots] to fill. Obviously, Barlow was one of the signings. I think balancing it out with [a] guard and wing might – we really want to go for [the] best player. I mean, obviously that sounds trite, but that's true. But you do want to focus on a little more roster balance. In terms of adding, this deadline, we thought backfilling [to replace] Paul was a possible spot while he was out. But, I hate to repeat it again, I'd love to talk on the side. The players that were available just weren't adding in a way that was material to what teams wanted us to give up for them."

• Morey on if he wants to bring Grimes back long-term after an unproductive restricted free agency last summer led to the 25-year-old taking the qualifying offer and changing his representation:

• Morey on if he worries about the perception that has formed as the Sixers have ducked the luxury tax threshold for four consecutive seasons:

"I understand the perception, and I'd hoped to defeat it by finding a deal that I can go to ownership and say 'We think this move is the right move to do for that', and create the apron issues that it would create. But I haven't been able to recommend that move yet."

• Morey on the team's defense:

"We're going to have to be a little next-man-up. Paul was a big part of our defense, and obviously, we'll have him back for the last 10 and the playoffs. I really love what Coach Nurse is doing, getting creative. I think we’ve really gotten to leaning into some of our strengths, with Tyrese [having a] high IQ, able to force turnovers while not having to gamble too much. But that's across the roster, and I really think, again, credit to [Nurse] and how we've adjusted over the year. That's been a change over the year, that he's realized how best to use our players. But we're going to have to battle. We’re gonna have to battle. Paul was a big part of [our defense] out there."

• Morey on if the Sixers have a protocol in which players clear any medications or substances they are taking with the team beforehand to ensure they will not violate the league's drug policies, and whether or not George followed said protocol:

"I mean, we absolutely have a protocol. In terms of more detail than that, I am really not at liberty to talk about [it]."

• Morey on if he tried to sign Barlow to a longer-term contract than one just covering this season with a team option for next season:

"Yeah, we were hoping to sign a longer deal, but what happened is we didn't know we had the Eric deal to make [the Barlow] deal possible. So it got pretty rushed, and we were only going to – we didn't give up much in that deal, like a swap of [second-round picks], but we were only going to do that if we had worked out something with Dom. So, in working with his representation, we took sort of a middle path, which is basically locking him in for next year at a good number, but with the ability to maybe work out something even better for both sides before we pick up a team option."

MORE: After anticlimactic deadline, who could Sixers poach from buyout market?