Suns Lose Major Coaching Candidate to 76ers

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns' search for a head coach continues after the dismissal of Monty Williams, and now arguably their top candidate is off the board.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting the Philadelphia 76ers have reached an agreement with Nick Nurse to become their next coach.

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 - a previous NBA champion with the Toronto Raptors - was fired after this season. He joined Doc Rivers, Frank Vogel and Mike Budenholzer as coaches available on the open market with championship experience.

He was ranked as the No. 1 available coach for the Suns in our previous rankings:

"Nurse is the most obvious combination of valuable experience, tactical mastery, and previous success to back the hype up," said staff writer Kevin Hicks. "Frequently listed as a top five coach in the entire league during his Raptors' tenure. The post-Kawhi era teams usually overachieved, and he lead very potent offensive units that were also disciplined on the defensive side."

Through his five-year stint in Toronto, he finished with a 227-163 record.

Now, the Suns will turn their attention to other potential candidates. Phoenix is reportedly very high on associate head coach Kevin Young, who seems to have the backing of the players in the locker room.

If Young isn't chosen, the Suns are also considering Jordi Fernandez, Kenny Atkinson and Rivers. Phoenix reportedly showed interest in possibly luring Los Angeles Clippers coach Ty Lue from their rivals but that doesn't seem realistic at this point in time.