Nick Nurse’s return to coaching next season will come with a former Atlantic Division rival.
The 76ers reached an agreement with Nurse, according to ESPN on Monday, five weeks after the Raptors parted ways with the coach who guided them to an NBA title in 2019 and won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award in 2020.
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Across five seasons with the Raptors, Nurse compiled a 227-163 record in the regular season, in addition to leading the postseason run — with Kawhi Leonard as the centerpiece — in his first season after taking over for Dwane Casey.
But a 41-41 regular season, and a loss in the play-in tournament, in 2022-23 was enough for the Raptors to move on from Nurse, and he started a stretch where three of the four NBA Coach of the Year award winners between 2018-19 and 2022-23 were fired.
Mike Budenholzer (Bucks) and Monty Williams (Suns) were the other two.
In the first coaching hire of the offseason, Houston decided on former Celtics coach Ime Udoka, who had been suspended for the entire 2022-23 season after an improper intimate relationship with a female staff member.
Then, the Bucks chose to give Griffin his first chance at being a head coach, with a roster headlined by Giannis Antetokounmpo.
And with the 76ers close to officially hiring Nurse, just the Suns, Pistons and Raptors have openings that remain.
