Daryl Morey is out as president of basketball operations with the Philadelphia 76ers, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
Morey and 76ers owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer met Tuesday evening in Philadelphia and the decision was made to part ways, sources said.
Coach Nick Nurse will continue in his role into a fourth season with the 76ers, sources added.
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Bob Myers, the president of sports for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, will lead the search for the new head executive for the 76ers and oversee the franchise’s basketball department in the interim. Myers is a four-time championship architect of the Golden State Warriors. The incumbent staff will be evaluated by Myers and then the incoming top basketball official.
Morey has led the 76ers basketball operations for the past six seasons — with five playoff berths and a 270-212 record during that span. The 76ers have not advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs under Morey and have not been to the conference finals since 2001.
Morey traded for James Harden – with whom he’d previously had success in Houston – ahead of the 2022 trade deadline. However, the reunion was short lived, when the 76ers declined to offer Harden a long-term maximum contract in 2023. The Sixers agreed to search out a trade upon Harden’s request after he agreed to pick up his $35.6 million player option in June, but the Sixers’ asking price was steep, and no teams were willing or able to meet it at first.
After trade talks broke off, Harden blasted Morey during a promotional tour in China, telling a crowd “Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of. Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.”
Harden did eventually report to training camp that summer, but never suited up again for the 76ers, and was traded to the LA Clippers on Halloween, with the 76ers landing the Clippers’ unprotected first-round pick in 2028 and swap rights in 2029. Philadelphia still owes Brooklyn a top-eight protected first-round pick in the 2027 draft from its original acquisition of Harden.
Morey also signed Paul George and Joel Embiid to massive contracts. George agreed to a four-year, $212 million maximum deal in the summer of 2024 while Embiid agreed to a three-year, $192.9 million contract later that year.
George, Embiid and Tyrese Maxey have played only 43 games together over the past two seasons, including the playoffs, owning a 21-22 record. Additionally, George, Maxey and Embiid are owed $153 million next season. Morey also traded Jared McCain at the deadline this season. McCain is now part of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s rotation.
Morey selected guard VJ Edgecombe with the third pick in the 2025 NBA draft. Edgecombe finished third for Rookie of the Year this season behind Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel.
Nurse, meanwhile, is 116-130 in three seasons, a record largely impacted by last year’s 24-58 mark. Nurse twice led the Sixers to the playoffs, including this season when Philadelphia overcame a 3-1 series deficit for the first time to beat the Boston Celtics in the opening round.
