The Philadelphia 76ers may be too busy with their audacious tank job to end the season, but there is definitely a lot of reason to look around and see what could be in it for them moving forward, especially given the crazy developments that have transpired as of late.
With the playoffs rapidly approaching, another contender flashed its rabid impatience. The Denver Nuggets, which just won the title a couple of years ago, have just fired Michael Malone — yes, you read that right — with the postseason beginning in just a tad over a week from now.
This move is even more puzzling given that another strong playoff contender, the Memphis Grizzlies, has seemingly set the blueprint on what not to do approaching the playoffs. Now, the Nikola Jokic-led squad is set to tackle the postseason and its sudden turmoil in the sidelines simultaneously.
Having said that and taking on a full, opportunistic attitude, did the 76ers just see their next head coach get gifted to them?
Michael Malone could be the perfect coach to save the 76ers and Joel Embiid
While the 76ers have yet to give out strong signals about cozying up to the idea of axing Nick Nurse even after a wildly disappointing campaign, the front office does not need to wait for things to get worse to make the judgment call on the veteran tactician.
Well, if a strong playoff team like Denver fired one of its best coaches ever with the playoffs just right around the corner, what is stopping Philly from doing the same, right?
Glib thoughts aside, Malone would be a perfect, hypothetical replacement for Nurse. Not only is the former a fellow championship coach like the latter, but he is also a proven program-builder. Even better, he has ample experience coaching a team with a dominant center at the very core of things.
With Joel Embiid needing to calibrate his game to adapt to his rapidly aging body, what better coach to show him the way to be effective in a streamlined physique than Malone, who has been the man on Nikola Jokic’s ears for his entire career until now?
Admittedly, we might be getting caught up too much with the wave of sudden changes, but the 76ers do not really have a lot of reason to cling onto Nick Nurse. With the front office already precluded from making realistic, grand changes, a switch-up on the sidelines could actually do the trick.