76ers hope Nick Nurse can lead team to title, as he once did for Raptors

Nick Nurse inherits a Philadelphia 76ers team in which Joel Embiid blossomed into an MVP, Tyrese Maxey developed into a rising star and James Harden flashed his old all-star form in the playoffs.

Yet for all that talent, the Sixers are home watching the NBA Finals.

Nurse, officially named Philadelphia's coach on Thursday weeks after he was fired by the Toronto Raptors, had loftier expectations for a franchise that instead suffered through a third straight second-round playoff exit.

"This team could be playing tonight," Nurse said.

With the Sixers on the post-season sidelines, and weeks after they fired Doc Rivers, they turned to Nurse to try solve those second-round woes. Better yet, win them a title.

Just don't expect Nurse to dwell much on the Sixers' post-season malaise.

"I don't really vibrate on the frequency of the past," Nurse said.

The 55-year-old Nurse led the Raptors to the 2019 NBA championship after they beat Embiid and the Sixers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. There was just a hint of 2019 in Nurse's explanation why the Sixers fall short each year, with the team clearly craving "that combination of staying healthy, the ball bouncing your way."

Embiid suffering some sort of injury in the post-season each year is almost as expected as the early exit. As for that ball bounce, it was Kawhi Leonard's four-bounce bucket in Game 7 — the first winning buzzer-beater in a Game 7 in NBA history — that sent the Sixers home in 2019.

The Sixers haven't reached the Eastern Conference Finals since 2001.

"That doesn't matter," Nurse said.

Yeah, but it does in Philly. Why is the only time to look back — such as the 76ers did this year with their 1983 championship celebration — when there's success?

The belief among fans, media and NBA insiders that the Sixers could win a title this season was blunted, in large part, by the string of second-round exits. Until the season comes when the Sixers get at least one round further, the doubts will remain.

Nurse was emboldened that the Sixers will get there because of what he did in Toronto, taking a franchise that had one conference finals appearance since their 1995 inception to the title in 2019.

The Raptors missed the playoffs twice since the championship, one reason he was on the market last month.

WATCH | Raptors president Masai Ujiri wants to 'gain momentum back':

Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri wants to 'gain momentum back'

2 years ago

Duration 5:08

Masai Ujiri explains the reasons for the Raptors decision to fire head coach Nick Nurse, and the goals for the team moving forward.

Nurse went 227-163 in his five seasons as coach in Toronto, where his .582 winning percentage ranks as the best of any coach in Raptors history. He also spent five years as an assistant to former Raptors coach Dwane Casey before taking over the top job.

Nurse met with Embiid before accepting the job, making sure all was cool with the franchise player after a serious of [usually playful] jabs they've thrown at each other throughout the years.

Some of the best colourful quips became social media fodder this week.

Team president Daryl Morey, who along with owner Josh Harris, flanked Nurse at the dais, said his new coach will work well with Embiid. Nurse earned a reputation as a creative defensive tactician, who often stymied Embiid by throwing double- and triple-teams at him. Embiid might have an easier time chasing a ring with Nurse than fighting against him.

"For a coach to succeed in this league, he has to have great relationships with his players, especially his top players," Morey said.

Harden's future

That included Harden.

The 76ers still have to decide if they will try to bring back Harden — who is expected on June 29 to decline the $35.6 million US option on his contract and become a free agent.

"James has a decision to make, and I'd be very happy if he came back," Nurse said.

For Nurse, the pitch is easy.

Toronto won in 2019 behind NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol, Pascal Siakam and a slew of stars and role players that bought in to Nurse's unique style of play.

Nurse believed he'd find the right one in Philly — and the 76ers are counting on it.

"How do we get ourselves to a championship," Morey asked.

Allen Iverson and Larry Brown and Charles Barkley and Ben Simmons and Embiid and on and on it goes since 1983 have all asked themselves the same question in Philadelphia.

Can Nurse really be the one to figure it out?

Nurse also continues to be head coach of Canada's men's national team, which will play at the World Cup in Indonesia later this summer as it pursues a spot in the 2024 Olympics.