Nick Nurse Addresses James Harden’s Uncertain Future With 76ers

When the Philadelphia 76ers were eliminated from the second round of the playoffs for the third-straight season, the team’s President of Basketball Operations, Daryl Morey, suggested a change at the head coach position.

Sixers’ Managing Partner Josh Harris agreed that change was necessary, which led Philadelphia to cut the cord on the Doc Rivers era after three seasons. At that point, Daryl Morey made the plans for the offseason clear.

One, the Sixers needed to find a tactical leader with a championship pedigree to lead the 76ers past the second round for the first time since 2001.

Two, the 76ers needed to find a way to convince their ten-time All-Star guard James Harden to return to the City of Brotherly Love.

Throughout the 2022-2023 NBA season, reports of a potential return to the Houston Rockets for James Harden flooded the rumor mill. Although Harden had a player option attached to his newly-signed short-term deal with the Sixers for the 2023-2024 season, many expected Harden to decline the option and look for a non-discounted agreement, although Harden didn’t confirm nor deny whether or not he would pick up his option after the playoff run ended last month.

The Rockets are expected to pursue Harden, according to several reports. Considering the former MVP’s plan is to be in a winning situation, it’s unclear whether or not Houston possesses the talent to surpass the Sixers in the star’s upcoming sweepstakes.

The uncertainty in Harden’s future with the Sixers could’ve affected them during their search for Doc Rivers’ replacement. However, Philadelphia managed to get one of the top available candidates in former Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse.

Despite not knowing what Harden’s next move is, Nurse confirmed that he talked with the ten-time All-Star and would welcome Harden back with open arms.

“James Harden’s a great player,” Nurse said on Thursday. “I would say this: James has a decision to make, and I’d be very happy if he came back.”

While it seems Nurse’s discussion with Harden was more of an introduction rather than a sales call, the head coach believes that returning to the Sixers could be the most logical move for Harden if their goals are aligned.

“I’m going to sit down, as I am with all the guys. I’m going to sit down with them all one-on-one, face-to-face here shortly,” Nurse explained. “Listen, I think that winning is always the sell, right? Can we be good enough to win it all? That’s got to be a goal of his. And if it is, then you should stay here and play for us because I think there’s a possibility of that.”

On paper, the Sixers are a talented team with or without Harden. Obviously, they are better off with the star playmaker, as he just led the league in assists per game while still being a 20-plus-point scorer on a nightly basis.

While Nurse noted that Daryl Morey and Josh Harris ultimately led him to take the Sixers’ head coaching job, he looks forward to digging deeper into the Xs and Os and the state of the roster when he has a clearer vision of the tools he’ll be working with next season.

“I’ll get a deeper dive and deeper look at what we actually have, and we're going to have going forward later in the summer,” Nurse finished. “Like, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for me to go super deep into what we have until we know what we have. I’ll go super deep into guys that we know who are coming back and what skills they may need to develop between now and training camp, but I took the job because of these two guys and the players.”

James Harden remains under contract with the 76ers until June 29. By then, he’ll have to decide whether or not he takes the $35.6 million deal for next season. If he chooses to decline it, Harden will begin contract negotiations the following day.