NBA: Nick Nurse in seduction mode with James Harden to stay with the 76ers

CAMDEN, MJ — New Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse has been asked about James Harden’s status as a free agent and how he plans to convince the star player to play for him next season.

“Winning has to be the selling point, right? Nurse said Thursday during his first press conference at the team’s practice facility. “Can we be good enough to win it all? That has to be the goal. »

“And if he is, then he should stay here and play for us, because I believe that situation is a possibility. »

Nurse, who was hired by the Sixers weeks after his five-year stint with the Raptors ended, says he’s already spoken to Harden and plans to meet with him, as do every player on the team, like star player Joel Embiid who he sat with during the hiring process.

Although a title is the natural standard of expectation, Nurse inherits a group that has seen its playoff run end in the Eastern Semifinals in five of the last six campaigns.

A generation has passed since Allen Iverson led Philadelphia to their last NBA Finals, and two generations since Julius Erving led the 76ers to their last title, but Nurse said no one cares now.

Instead, the team will focus on what can be achieved in the future.

“That’s how I see it. I don’t really vibrate to the rhythm of the past. In my eyes, when we get the chance to start (next season), our focus will be on what we can achieve in the future. The past does not count. Everything that’s happened in the last few years won’t matter next season,” Nurse said.

“You’ve already spoken to me about the second round twice and we’re going to attack that subject. We know that we will be judged by our performance in the playoffs. It was the same in Toronto; we didn’t play so well and some players didn’t play to the best of their abilities. It is reality. I imagine that from day 1 we will talk about it and we will try to tackle this aspect. We will have to face it and we will have to overcome it. »

Part of the solution to overcoming this aspect will be the work that Nurse can do with Embiid to help him take his game to the next level in the playoffs. The coach will try to pull off this task as best he can in familiar surroundings, as he and Embiid have faced each other a few times in the last five years.

The Raptors and 76ers, beyond their four meetings against each other during the regular season, have also met twice in the playoffs: the 2019 matchup, when Kawhi Leonard had a spectacular shot to beat the clock in Game 7, and a six-game series last season.

These battles, also marked by a few skirmishes between Nurse and Embiid, led the head coach to a new appreciation for Embiid.

“I think it was an interesting experience, coaching a team against Joel. We threw everything imaginable at this guy, because it was hard to stop him. We put a lot of obstacles in his way. »