Report: Nick Nurse Agrees to Contract as 76ers HC After Doc Rivers' Firing

The Philadelphia 76ers fired Doc Rivers after three seasons and three failed attempts to get out of the second round of the playoffs. Now, the team is hoping Nick Nurse can get it over the hump.

The Sixers reportedly hired him on Monday, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, a first big decision in what could be a pivotal offseason for the franchise.

Under Rivers, the Sixers went 154-82 in the regular season, were the top overall seed in the Eastern Conference in the 2020-21 season and won 54 games this past campaign, the most for the organization since Allen Iverson led them to the NBA Finals in the 2000-01 season.

But the Sixers fell to the Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat and Boston Celtics in the past three conference semifinals, leading to his ultimate ouster as the Sixers try to maximize the prime of MVP center Joel Embiid.

The question facing the Sixers this offseason is whether his star running mate, point guard James Harden, will stay in Philadelphia. Harden has a $35.6 million player option for next season which he is widely expected to decline after he took a discount on his contract last year to help the team land players like P.J. Tucker and Danuel House in free agency.

But rumors have continued to swirl that Harden might consider a return to the Houston Rockets in free agency, which could leave the Sixers in very real trouble, given that they would only have about $12 million in cap space if he opts out.

In that scenario, the Sixers would have to hope they could use Tobias Harris' $39.2 million expiring contract and any draft capital they can muster to land another top player. Without Tyrese Maxey in the deal, however, it's hard to imagine the Sixers landing a superstar with that sort of package.

And given Maxey's ascension to stardom in his young career, it's equally hard to imagine the team pining to trade him.

But those are questions for Daryl Morey and the front office. Nurse will handle the Xs and Os with the roster he's ultimately given ahead of the 2023-24 season.

Nurse, 55, was the head coach of the Toronto Raptors for one of the most painful moments in Sixers history—Kawhi Leonard's multi-bounce, game-winning three in Game 7 of the conference semifinals that served as one of the defining moments of Toronto's title-run that season and ended the short-lived Jimmy Butler era in Philadelphia.

Now, Nurse finds himself in Philadelphia, hoping to get the player who was left in literal tears after Leonard's shot, Embiid, past the second round for the first time in his career.

He'll bring a 227-163 career record as a head coach and three playoff appearances to Philadelphia. Hopes are high that he can earn his second career title alongside Embiid.