The Philadelphia 76ers have announced that president of basketball operations Daryl Morey will not be returning to the team in 2026-27. The team has however decided to retain the services of head coach Nick Nurse.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Daryl personally and professionally, and I’m grateful for his contributions over the last six seasons,” managing partner Josh Harris said. “After speaking with Daryl, we determined that it was time for a fresh start.”
It was a rollercoaster ride of a year for Philadelphia who posted a 45-37 record, which made them the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference. After defeating the Orlando Magic in the Play-In Tournament to secure their spot in the postseason, Philadelphia shocked Boston with a first round upset in 7 games.
Unfortunately that would be as far as they would go as the New York Knicks steamrolled them in the 2nd round en route to a 4-0 sweep.
The 76ers will have plenty to think about over the summer as their 2025-26 season was punctuated by extreme bright spots and disappointments. Budding superstar Tyrese Maxey led the team in points per game, averaging 28.3 per night, while chipping in 6.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds for good measure.
That, coupled with the emergence of rookie VJ Edgecombe (16pts/5.6reb/4.2ast), and one could argue that Philadelphia is well positioned to compete in the east for years to come. However, they were ultimately undone by a lack of availability by Joel Embiid (38 games played) and Paul George (37 games played) once again.
The former battled a myriad of injuries as his snake bitten career on the injury front wrote new chapters in 2025-26. Meanwhile, the latter was suspended for 25 games due to a violation of the league’s anti-doping program.
George has one more year under contract at $54.1M in 2026-27, before he almost certainly picks up his player option for his age 37 season in 2027-28. With him ostensibly on the books for another two years at a cost of over $110M, one has to assume that the incoming president will take a long hard look at creative ways to rid the team of that contract.
On the other hand, Embiid is signed through 2028-29, with his age 34 year being a player option. The former 1st rounder remains highly effective when healthy, averaging 26.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per night in just 31 minutes of action on average. But his availability remains the Achilles heel of this Sixers team.
Myers is expected to cast a wide net in his search for a new president, and could got with an unfamiliar name to try and have a fresh start in the City of Brotherly Love.
“I know how much the 76ers mean to the City of Philadelphia, and it’s important we find the right leader to shape the future of this team,” Myers said in a prepared statement. “The process will start immediately, and we will be thorough and deliberate in our evaluations. I believe this is a destination for top talent across the league and look forward to solidifying our infrastructure moving forward.”
Morey’s time with the team is an interesting case study in team dynamics. Some of his moves have been highly praised, such as selecting Edgecombe, creatively bringing in veteran players to work around the team’s financial constraints, as well as the development of Maxey.
However his tenure was not without its warts. The James Harden debacle will forever be linked to his time in the city, as will his big swing to add George to the mix in his attempt to get the team over the playoff hump. Ultimately, George, Embiid and Maxey would go on to play just 43 games together over the last two seasons combined.
There was also the trade of Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder which was a bit puzzling at the time, and hasn’t aged any better as the 22 year old has thrived in his role coming off the bench for the defending NBA champions.
All in all, this is a team that even most of the fanbase thought would likely be a one and done team in the playoffs. So to see them bounce Boston in the first round is essentially playing with house money. However that doesn’t mean the team should be content to simply run things back next season and expect different results.
“To our fans, your frustration and disappointment are understandable and warranted,” Harris said. “We have fallen well short of our own expectations and failed to deliver in the way this city deserves. That bothers me deeply and I have confidence in Bob to establish a path forward for our franchise.”
Whomever is brought in to oversee the next chapter of “The Process” will be inheriting a talent rich team, but will also need to shoulder decades worth of expectations from a city starved for a championship as well.
Photo: Matthew Johnson. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.