The Philadelphia 76ers are officially in the market for a new president of basketball operations, as the team parted ways with Daryl Morey on Tuesday. Additionally, ESPN reports that Nick Nurse will remain with the team as coach for a fourth season.
Morey spent six seasons with the Sixers. The team reached the postseason five times during that span but never advanced past the second round. This year, the Sixers finished 45-37 in the regular season to earn the No. 7 seed. They then beat the Orlando Magic in the Play-In Tournament before beating the Boston Celtics in seven games in the first round. After coming back from down 3-1 to beat Boston, however, the Sixers were swept by the New York Knicks. That series wrapped up on Sunday, and Morey was let go on Tuesday after meeting with team owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer, per ESPN.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Daryl personally and professionally, and I’m grateful for his contributions over the last six seasons,” Harris said. “After speaking with Daryl, we determined that it was time for a fresh start.”
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Morey made major moves during his tenure, including trading Ben Simmons to the Brooklyn Nets for James Harden, who he then traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, before signing Paul George to a max free-agent deal in the summer of 2024. In 2020, Morey brought in Doc Rivers as coach. In 2023, he moved on to Nurse. Perhaps he didn’t manage the margins as well as Sixers fans would’ve hoped, but he took big swings to try to take this team to a conference finals at least.
It never happened, as the team Morey assembled struggled to stay on the floor with Joel Embiid, the 2023 MVP, dealing with an array of injuries that have limited him to a total of 96 regular-season games combined over the past three years.
“To our fans, your frustration and disappointment are understandable and warranted,” Harris said. “We have fallen well short of our own expectations and failed to deliver in the way this city deserves. That bothers me deeply.”
Morey’s replacement will be tasked with building around Embiid, George and a young backcourt led by All-Star Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, who finished third in Rookie of the Year voting this season.
Bob Myers, who serves as president of sports at Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and won four championships as president and general manager of the Golden State Warriors, will lead the search for Morey’s replacement and oversee the franchise’s basketball department in the interim.
“Bob Myers will lead the process of identifying a new leader and I believe his experience in constructing four NBA championship teams will be a valuable resource to our organization,” Harris said. “I have confidence in Bob to establish a path forward for our franchise.”
Added Myers: “I know how much the 76ers mean to the City of Philadelphia, and it’s important we find the right leader to shape the future of this team. The process will start immediately, and we will be thorough and deliberate in our evaluations. I believe this is a destination for top talent across the league and look forward to solidifying our infrastructure moving forward.”
Nurse, who won a championship as the coach of the Toronto Raptors, is 116-130 in three seasons in Philadelphia, including going 24-58 in the injury-filled 2024-25 season that allowed the Sixers to pick Edgecombe with the third pick.
