Nick Nurse contradicts 76ers front office with hard-to-swallow statement

Nick Nurse seems to be going wayward of what the 76ers front office is gearing up for.

76ers, Nick Nurse
76ers, Nick Nurse | Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images

After a couple of months of being labeled as the NBA’s biggest disappointment this season, the Philadelphia 76ers have stringed together a month of more than respectable basketball. Aside from a relatively cleaner bill of health, the on-court product has simply been that much better. From offense to defense, you can see the team’s improved chemistry and execution.

Yet with each passing day, it seems like the 76ers remain stuck in the middle. They are currently 15-20, and while still five games below .500, they are only somehow 3.5 games away from the sixth seed thanks to the East being a top-heavy conference this time around. So clearly, there is still a clear road for them to rise in the standings and enter the playoffs with much better footing.

The league-wide consensus is that for Philly to truly be equipped to challenge the best teams in the league, they have to make a move or two on the trade market, particularly on the margins. Their roster is still plagued with holes, and some of their offseason pickups have not panned out all.

Nick Nurse thinks different from the 76ers front office about what the strategy should be moving forward

While the prevailing sentiment is one of the 76ers seeking tangible improvement by seeking external help, head coach Nick Nurse seems to be harping a different tune. The veteran tactician, who also drew a lot of flak earlier in the season due to his disputable on-court decisions, says the team should not bank on external changes to turn their season around and steer the wheel for them moving forward.

But for a team still technically struggling given its record, would it not be disingenuous to just chide the significant impact of the trade market to bring about some changes, especially much-needed ones? The 76ers are clearly operating with a flawed deck, and refusing to acknowledge the importance of capitalizing on the options available for them is too strong of a coach’s endearment.

That might be reading too much into it, but at the same time, Nurse ought to know better than any fan or pundit that the roster he is handling has little to no shot of upending any of the elite teams in the league in a seven-game series. There are still visible signs of disconnect on the court at times, and this core is way too raw to dismantle any of the established ones out there.

Fortunately, the Philadelphia 76ers front office will probably not just stand pat, but stand on business. The team clearly needs it, despite what Nick Nurse thinks.

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