The Philadelphia 76ers lost in the second round once again this year, and there’s no doubt that this was a disappointing outcome for a team that was expected to get to the Finals this season.
Due to their failure in the playoffs, the team ended up firing head coach Doc Rivers. His replacement has recently been announced, with Nick Nurse becoming the new head coach. However, it seems as though he had other options. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN recently revealed that he could have gone to the Phoenix Suns, but ended up going to the 76ers because he wanted to coach Joel Embiid.
“The Sixers and Phoenix Suns were engaged with Nurse and his agent, Andy Miller of Klutch Sports, throughout Sunday and Monday, leaving Nurse with a difficult decision between two contending teams, sources said.”
“Nurse’s desire to coach MVP Joel Embiid and his history with Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey played a significant part in his decision to commit to a deal with Philadelphia, sources said. Nurse separated himself in the interview process, selling a vision for the Sixers centered on Embiid.”
Joel Embiid was the 2022-23 MVP, and it is easy to see why Nick Nurse would want to coach him. Embiid will be the most talented player that Nurse has had since Kawhi Leonard in 2019, and it’ll be interesting to see how he does with that level of talent once again.
Joel Embiid Was Untouchable For The 76ers Going Into The Offseason
Though there was a lot of speculation about Joel Embiid potentially getting traded this off-season, it is clear that the franchise had no plans of doing so. According to Keith Pompey, he is “very much untouchable”.
“There’s no plan to trade Embiid at any point. So, yes, he is very much untouchable.”
Of course, things can change in the NBA, and it is not out of the question that Joel Embiid will get traded by the Philadelphia 76ers later on in his career. However, there is no point in moving him while he is in his prime and playing at an MVP level.
Hopefully, we see Joel Embiid make a deep playoff run in the future. He is the only MVP to never reach the Conference Finals, and perhaps that will end up changing under Nick Nurse next season.
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