After yet another early playoff exit last season, the Sixers fired head coach Doc Rivers. They were stuck in the middle. No draft pick, and star point guard James Harden, who they had traded a plethora of picks for just a year and a half prior, was requesting a trade. General Manager Daryl Morey decided to hire Nick Nurse, a coach just dismissed by the Toronto Raptors who had defeated the Sixers on the way to an NBA championship a few short years ago.
In the offseason, they would resign James Harden with intent to trade him away. After not finding any suitable trade partners, talks died down as the season threatened to begin.
At the same time, the team signed Kelly Oubre Jr., a 20 ppg scorer the year before with the Hornets, to a veteran minimum contract with the expectations of him being their new sixth man. Now, as the season began, Harden sat out the first few games due to personal matters, and was getting ready to come back.
In the dark of the night, Daryl Morey completed a deal with the Los Angeles Clippers to send Harden to join Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard. In return, the Sixers received an army of role players to go along with 3 first round picks.
Despite losing his primary ballhandler and league-leader in assists from the year before, Nick Nurse kept the team focused and they have managed to stay right in line with the Bucks and Celtics for the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Here are 3 of the biggest factors that have helped them get to this point.
Evolution of Tyrese Maxey
In the absence of James Harden, Tyrese Maxey has stepped up as the secondary weapon to compliment Joel Embiid. He has been able to keep the play consistent in the crucial non-Embiid minutes, something that they were lacking in the playoffs last year. Nurse has been able to seamlessly include his high-paced playstyle into his own game plan whilst also including others strengths.
Consolidation of Joel Embiid
When the 76ers have been up big in the 4th quarter this season (which has been a lot), Nick Nurse has opted to sit Joel Embiid, helping prevent injuries and in turn preserve energy for late in the regular season and the playoffs. A lot of Philly's struggles in the playoffs under Doc Rivers centered around Embiid not being as productive as he was in the regular season. So, Nurse has decided to make sure that his best player will be available when he needs his best player the most. This also allows backup centers to get used to playing large chunks of time in case they need it later on.
Emergence of Depth Players
The Sixers' bench in last year's postseason consisted of DeAnthony Melton, Georges Niang, Paul Reed, Danuel House Jr., and Jalen McDaniels, which is also not considering that one of the starters was P.J. Tucker. Their lack of bench production was a serious problem and often caused runs for the other team. This year in the regular season, they have gotten significant numbers out of a multitude of players, most notably those from the James Harden trade. If they can keep this up in the playoffs, the 76ers bench could be one of the most feared units in the league.
By bringing in his own new ways, coach Nick Nurse has turned this Sixers team from a regular season contender into a likely postseason powerhouse, and this team could be scary come Springtime.
- Eli Knight
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