Yesterday afternoon, news broke out that former Raptors head coach Nick Nurse became the next head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers replacing head coach Doc Rivers who was with the team for 4 seasons according to Adrian Wojnarowski.
ESPN Sources: Nick Nurse has reached an agreement to become the next coach of the Philadelphia 76ers. Nurse — who won an NBA championship and a coach of year award with Toronto — now gets to coach the 2023 MVP Joel Embiid. pic.twitter.com/SrsXhzx7Y3
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 29, 2023
Nurse will now be reuniting with Daryl Morey for the first time since Nurse’s G League days coaching Rio Grande Valley back in 2011. That was one of the biggest sales as well as coaching reigning MVP Joel Embiid that drew him to become the next head coach.
Wojnarowski wrote a story detailing the process of the 76ers hiring Nurse and in the story, Wojnarowski explained what happened and this quote might make some Suns fans a little upset.
“The Sixers and Phoenix Suns were engaged with Nurse and his agent, Andy Miller of Klutch Sports, throughout Sunday and Monday, leaving Nurse with a difficult decision between two contending teams. Nurse’s desire to coach MVP Joel Embiid and his history with Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey played a significant part in his decision to commit to a deal with Philadelphia, sources said.”
It turns out that the Suns were heavily involved in discussions between Nurse and his agent. However according to John Gambadoro from 98.7 the game, Nurse wasn’t offered a contract by the Suns during the process.
Don't believe the report – Nick Nurse was never offered the head coaching position of the Phoenix Suns. That is 100% inaccurate. He very likely used the Suns for leverage with Philly.
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) May 30, 2023
With Nurse now gone to the 76ers, it begs the question of who’s next in the Suns’ coaching search moving forward. There are a lot of candidates to choose from for Phoenix still such as Suns’ assistant Kevin Young, Doc Rivers, Jordi Fernadez from Sacramento, Frank Vogel, and so many more.
An interesting rumor that’s been going around is that according to Bill Simmons from the Ringer, he’s been hearing throughout the entire offseason, that Kevin Young is going to be the next head coach of the Suns.
Bill Simmons saying the Suns are going to hire Kevin Young: pic.twitter.com/gXiBRdWD1X
— Cage (@ridiculouscage) May 24, 2023
It would make sense if Young is the next head coach of the Suns as he’s popular with the team and the organization. However, with the Suns’ top choice out of the running, it’s safe to say that the team is going to take their time doing more homework before making a final decision.
Subscribe Today!
-
Burn+ Annual Subscription (Digital and Print)
$49.95 / year
-
Burn+ Monthly Premium Subscription (Digital)
$5.95 / month
