Nick Nurse was officially introduced as the new head coach of the 76ers on Thursday, and not surprisingly, he was asked about the future of James Harden.
Harden reportedly has a desire to rejoin the Rockets as the decision about his player option looms (he is expected to decline it), but if he decides he wants to stay in Philadelphia, Nurse would happily have him.
“James Harden is a great player,” Nurse said. “James has a decision to make, and I’d be very happy if he came back.”
Nurse also added that he has spoken to Harden already, and as for what his message was to try and sell Harden on coming back to Philly, Nurse simply said, “winning.”
As for his players that are more cemented in returning next season, Nurse said he will make maximizing MVP Joel Embiid one of his primary objectives.
“Joel has a lot of attributes defensively…and then offensively, he’s very, very skilled,” Nurse said. “It’s a little early, but once it starts unfolding and we start learning each other, we’re just gonna try to max it out…we’re gonna certainly try to put him in situations where he’s super dominant.”
As for Tyrese Maxey, Nurse is confident he will make big improvements heading into his fourth NBA season, and one of the ways Nurse plans to elevate Maxey is by getting him more involved in the pick-and-roll.
“He’s got a tremendous chance to improve and take a step forward,” Nurse said. “From all indications, he’s really hungry to do so. Good worker, good person, and he really wants to get better.”
As for the Sixers as a whole, Nurse faced several questions about what will be done to solve the team’s inability to survive the second round of the playoffs in recent years, and Nurse anticipates that being one of the top topics of conversation when the team gets together to prepare for next season.
“I think this team could be playing tonight,” Nurse said. “That combination of staying healthy, the ball bouncing your way, figuring out the long grind of the playoffs…all of those things are very difficult.
“We’re gonna hit that head on. we know we’re judged by how we play in the playoffs…the reality is, that’s the truth. I’d imagine from day one, we’re gonna talk about that and we’re gonna ty to attack that. We’re gonna have to face that and rise above it. That’s the mentality we’re gonna have to take.”