76ers hiring Nick Nurse all but spells the end of James Harden in Philly

The Philadelphia 76ers are hiring Nick Nurse as the next head coach, but could that foretell the end of James Harden with the franchise?

Just days after the Bucks hired former Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin to be the team’s next head coach, the Philadelphia 76ers also looked north of the United States border for their replacement for Doc Rivers, who was fired after the Sixers failed to get past the East Semifinals for the third straight year.

Instead of a former assistant, though, the 76ers are hiring a former Raptors head coach.

On Monday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Philadelphia is hiring Nick Nurse to be their next head coach and to replace Rivers.

Nurse had previously withdrawn his name from Milwaukee’s coaching search and reports had emerged that he was intrigued by working with 76ers GM Daryl Morey, who hired him in 2011 to coach in the then-D League. Since then, Nurse coached the Raptors for five seasons from 2018-23, winning an NBA Championship in his first season, finishing with a losing record just once, and accruing an overall record of 227-163.

The success speaks for itself with Nurse, but the hire might also tell us quite a bit about what’s set to happen with James Harden.

76ers: Nick Nurse hire could signal moving on from James Harden

For months now, the expectation has been that James Harden plans to opt out of the final year of his contract and hit free agency this offseason. The Sixers, for their part, have seemingly been at least moderately interested in a return, but Harden looking for a possible max deal has been linked elsewhere, most notably to a return to the Rockets.

As Nurse comes into the building, though, he does so with a pretty established track record of where he’s best. He’s thrived with a superstar (Kawhi Leonard in Toronto) while developing younger players throughout the rest of the roster. With players like Tyrese Maxey, Paul Reed, De’Anthony Melton and more around Joel Embiid, the setup is there for the 76ers to follow that same plan as Nurse enters the fray.

Harden, however, doesn’t necessarily fit that equation. Moreover, not having Harden on the roster, particularly on a the sizable contract he’s searching for this offseason, would allow Philadelphia to further build out the roster with guys that can be developed under the new coaching staff. If this is the direction the 76ers are looking to go, then having an aging star on perhaps his final big contract wouldn’t really slide neatly into the proverbial process.

This, of course, is speculation at the moment. Having said that, hiring Nurse and what we know about the former Raptors head coach could be the first concrete sign that James Harden returning to the Sixers just isn’t going to happen.