The always upside-down 76ers fire Daryl Morey, whose replacement has decades of disarray to overcome

Leaving the coach in place while firing the GM is a backward way of doing things, making it a fitting maneuver for the never-normal Sixers

John Gonzalez

May 13, 2026

12:15 am ET

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6 min read

Imagn Images

That escalated quickly. After the Philadelphia 76ers crashed out of the playoffs like usual -- this time getting humiliated in a sweep by the rival Knicks -- Joel Embiid wasn't bashful about what had to happen. He said everyone had to be better -- players, coaches, the front office and ownership, too.

Calling out his teammates and the coaching staff was standard stuff. Pointing a giant finger at the front office and ownership was something else entirely. Just a couple of days later, Daryl Morey was fired as president of basketball operations after meeting with owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening. That isn't to suggest that Embiid was the guy who made this happen. He didn't. He doesn't have that kind of juice anymore, if he ever did. It's merely to underline what an obvious mess the Sixers have become. Again. It was abundantly clear to the seldom-available and extremely expensive center that something had to change. And he wasn't alone. Plenty of local fans and media were calling for heads to roll. And then Morey got the axe.

76ers parting ways with Daryl Morey while Nick Nurse will reportedly return as coach

Brad Botkin

If there's any surprise here, it's that coach Nick Nurse got a reprieve. He will retain his job for a fourth season, according to multiple reports. Nurse, who won a championship in Toronto, has been decidedly less successful in Philly. He's somehow managed to have a worse overall record and less playoff success than his much-criticized predecessor, Doc Rivers.

Leaving the coach in place while firing the general manager and then pushing the old coach on whoever the new GM turns out to be is a pretty unusual and backward way of going about these things, which makes it a perfect maneuver for the always-upside-down Sixers.

Bob Myers tasked with finding Morey's replacement

Searching for the new front man in Philly will be left to former Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers. Myers -- who is a two-time NBA Executive of the Year and was the architect of four championships with Golden State -- is currently the president of sports for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the group that owns the Sixers, as well as the New Jersey Devils, Washington Commanders and Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

Since Myers' appointment to that position, there's been unending speculation that it was only a matter of time before Morey was forced out and Myers stepped in. The first part happened. Morey is gone. But it's hard to believe that Myers would want the second part to come to fruition. It would be easy enough for him to head up the search and then land on the guy staring back at him in the mirror, but why would he want the job?

Right now, he's getting paid gobs of money to take a broad view of a bunch of franchises. That's a low-pressure, highly lucrative role. Why give it up to take over a Sixers organization that's underachieved for decades and is once again in disarray? There's a reason, after all, that Morey is no longer employed.

In six seasons as the president of basketball operations, Morey's Sixers went 270-212. They missed the playoffs once, got eliminated in the first round once, and were dispatched in the second round four times. They never made the conference finals, but in that department, Morey failed like everyone before him. The Sixers haven't made it out of the second round in 25 years. Maybe Morey can start a support group with all the other Philly GMs who couldn't pull it off either.

If there was a case to be made for letting Morey stick around and try to fix what isn't working in Philly, it was drafting Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain and VJ Edgecombe. He took Maxey with the 21st pick in 2022, McCain 16th in 2024 and Edgecombe third last year. Those are some really good selections. Except McCain now plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder, which has turned out to be less good for the Sixers and certainly for Morey's reputation.

At the trade deadline, Morey said the Sixers were "playing well" and that he was looking to upgrade the team in a win-now move, but "nothing materialized." Instead, he opted to trade McCain and duck the luxury tax. Morey argued that he was "quite confident we are selling high." With McCain getting meaningful playoff minutes for the absolutely loaded Thunder, those comments have not aged well. They did not go over well at the time, either.

> Daryl Morey: "The big move was with Jared. Because we're playing well, we were trying to upgrade the team and add to the team now."

"We understand that we were looking to add now and nothing materialized." pic.twitter.com/rTVDk7T1Nt

— Erin Grugan