Things took a sharp turn for the Philadelphia 76ers. Following yet another disappointing playoff exit, this time an embarrassing sweep by their rivals, the Knicks, Joel Embiid didn’t hold back on what needed to change. He emphasized that improvement was required across the board—from players and coaches to the front office and ownership.
Criticizing teammates and coaching staff is par for the course, but directing blame at the front office and ownership is another level. Shortly after, Daryl Morey was dismissed from his role as president of basketball operations following discussions with owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer in Philadelphia. It’s not that Embiid orchestrated Morey’s departure; he doesn’t wield that kind of influence, if he ever did. It simply highlights the evident disarray within the Sixers organization. It was clear to the frequently sidelined and costly star that change was necessary, and he wasn’t the only one thinking so. Many local fans and media echoed calls for accountability, leading to Morey’s dismissal.
Despite the upheaval, reports indicate that coach Nick Nurse will remain at the helm for a fourth season. Known for leading Toronto to a championship, Nurse hasn’t replicated the same success in Philadelphia, with an overall record and playoff performance falling short of those achieved by his often-criticized predecessor, Doc Rivers.
In a rather unconventional move, the Sixers opted to keep their coach while relieving their general manager, setting the stage for the new GM to inherit the current coaching staff. Such a backwards approach perfectly aligns with the unpredictable nature of the Sixers.
If there’s any surprise here, it’s that coach Nick Nurse got a reprieve. He will retain his job for a fourth season, according to multiple reports. Nurse, who won a championship in Toronto, has been decidedly less successful in Philly. He’s somehow managed to have a worse overall record and less playoff success than his much-criticized predecessor, Doc Rivers.
Leaving the coach in place while firing the general manager and then pushing the old coach on whoever the new GM turns out to be is a pretty unusual and backward way of going about these things, which makes it a perfect maneuver for the always-upside-down Sixers.
Bob Myers tasked with finding Morey’s replacement
Searching for the new front man in Philly will be left to former Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers. Myers — who is a two-time NBA Executive of the Year and was the architect of four championships with Golden State — is currently the president of sports for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the group that owns the Sixers, as well as the New Jersey Devils, Washington Commanders and Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
Since Myers’ appointment to that position, there’s been unending speculation that it was only a matter of time before Morey was forced out and Myers stepped in. The first part happened. Morey is gone. But it’s hard to believe that Myers would want the second part to come to fruition. It would be easy enough for him to head up the search and then land on the guy staring back at him in the mirror, but why would he want the job?
Right now, he’s getting paid gobs of money to take a broad view of a bunch of franchises. That’s a low-pressure, highly lucrative role. Why give it up to take over a Sixers organization that’s underachieved for decades and is once again in disarray? There’s a reason, after all, that Morey is no longer employed.
In six seasons as the president of basketball operations, Morey’s Sixers went 270-212. They missed the playoffs once, got eliminated in the first round once, and were dispatched in the second round four times. They never made the conference finals, but in that department, Morey failed like everyone before him. The Sixers haven’t made it out of the second round in 25 years. Maybe Morey can start a support group with all the other Philly GMs who couldn’t pull it off either.
If there was a case to be made for letting Morey stick around and try to fix what isn’t working in Philly, it was drafting Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain and VJ Edgecombe. He took Maxey with the 21st pick in 2022, McCain 16th in 2024 and Edgecombe third last year. Those are some really good selections. Except McCain now plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder, which has turned out to be less good for the Sixers and certainly for Morey’s reputation.
At the trade deadline, Morey said the Sixers were “playing well” and that he was looking to upgrade the team in a win-now move, but “nothing materialized.” Instead, he opted to trade McCain and duck the luxury tax. Morey argued that he was “quite confident we are selling high.” With McCain getting meaningful playoff minutes for the absolutely loaded Thunder, those comments have not aged well. They did not go over well at the time, either.
Morey’s contracts for Embiid, George will hamstring next GM
According to The Athletic, Embiid was pretty heated about the Sixers opting to subtract rather than add in the service of saving ownership some money. The center reportedly “didn’t see eye-to-eye with Morey” and “had to hold himself back from verbally criticizing the front office” after Morey traded McCain to the Thunder and the Sixers once again ducked the luxury tax.
Embiid is not the first Sixers player who fell out with Morey. Ahead of the 2022 trade deadline, Morey acquired James Harden from the Brooklyn Nets. The pair had a good relationship with the Houston Rockets and achieved a measure of relative success, at least reaching the conference finals. None of that happened when they reunited in Philly. When the Sixers declined to offer Harden a long-term deal in the summer of 2023, Harden demanded a trade and then (in)famously went on a scorched-earth campaign that included calling Morey a liar in front of a bunch of confused Chinese children.
That was objectively one of the most hilarious moments of the Morey era. Less funny, the Sixers still owe Brooklyn their top-eight protected first-round pick in 2027 from the Harden trade. That was obviously a mistake that ended badly, but it still wasn’t as big a blunder as giving out monster money to Embiid and Paul George. Embiid has two more seasons remaining on his three-year, $187 million extension. Due to endless injuries, he has missed 150 games over the last three years and has never played more than 68 games in a single season.
Meanwhile, George had a down season last year and missed 25 games after being suspended for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. He also has two more years left on the four-year, $211 million contract that brought him from Los Angeles to Philly. He’ll be 37 in the final year of his deal, while Embiid will be 34 when they’re finally done paying him. They’re two of the worst contracts in the NBA. Unless Myers hires an actual magician to run the front office, it will be impossible to get either of them off the books, which limits the next GM’s options and makes improving an average-at-best team that much harder.
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In fairness to Morey, there was really no choice with the decision to pay Embiid. Everyone knew the health risks, but not giving the face of the franchise the big money extension at the time wasn’t really an option. In further fairness to Morey, ownership signed off on the move, just as they did with the decision to ink George. Ownership also ostensibly instructed Morey to duck the tax several years in a row. And when none of that worked out, ownership kicked Morey to the curb. Tough beat, but that’s the NBA.
This will not surprise you, but ownership is not exactly loved by the Philly faithful. Search “Josh Harris” and “sell the team” on social media and then watch your device immediately overheat from the endless results it returns.
An ownership change, of course, is not happening. In the absence of that, someone pretty high up had to take the fall and it ended up being Morey. As Embiid said, everyone in that organization needs to be better. We’ll see if the next guy can succeed where Morey did not and turn the Sixers into something other than an annual disappointment. On that front, whoever gets the gig will have decades of history working against them.
