76ers' Daryl Morey Says He and Nick Nurse Will Return After Missing 2025 NBA Playoffs

The Philadelphia 76ers had a brutal 2024-25 season, finishing 24-58 despite the incredibly high offseason expectations after the addition of Paul George.

It does not sound as though the team will undergo major changes from an executive or coaching standpoint, however.

Team president of basketball operations, Daryl Morey, told reporters on Sunday following the conclusion of the regular season that both he and head coach Nick Nurse will return for the 2025-26 campaign. He also confirmed that the star trio of George, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey would be back.

A championship contender finishing in the lottery is often a recipe for offseason changes, but injuries kept the Sixers without their main ingredients for the majority of the season.

George appeared in just 41 games, hampered by various ailments. Embiid only played 19 games, hampered by a lingering knee issue that required surgery. And Maxey made just 52 appearances, as a sprained right finger and a back issue (and potentially a bit of tanking gamesmanship from the Sixers) kept him out since March 3.

Injuries rocked the roster in general. Standout rookie Jared McCain only appeared in 23 games after tearing his left meniscus. Injuries limited veterans Andre Drummond (40 games), Eric Gordon (39 games) and Kyle Lowry (35 games) as well.

The good news for the Sixers is that they will hold the fifth-best lottery odds, giving them a strong chance to keep the top-six protected pick otherwise owed to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

That means the Sixers are going to potentially end up with very different timelines on their roster. Embiid (31 years old), George (34) and veterans like Guerschon Yabusele (29), assuming they re-sign the latter, are on one end of the age scale. Maxey (24), Quentin Grimes (24)—again, assuming they can retain him as a restricted free agent—McCain (21) and an incoming rookie will be on the other end of that scale.

It wouldn't be much of an issue if the Sixers end up winning the lottery and drafting Cooper Flagg, who should be ready to make an immediate impact on both ends of the floor and would slot in seamlessly at power forward with the rest of the team's core. It will be a bit more interesting, however, if they end up with more of a developmental project at a position where they already have solid depth.

The Golden State Warriors struggled at times maintaining the dual-timeline approach to roster building, though this season it has seemed to coalesce with the addition of Jimmy Butler and continued development of younger players like Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody.

Time will tell if the Sixers can manage the situation and return to contender status. For at least one more season, it appears Morey and Nurse will be trusted to accomplish the task.