The Philadelphia 76ers had a near-perfect offseason. Daryl Morey and James Harden agreed on a new deal that gave them enough financial flexibility to bolster their rotation, yet they’ve failed to make a good impression thus far.
Of course, Joel Embiid missed some conditioning time during the offseason, and it always takes new teams some time to go through that period of adjustment. But the Sixers have been flat-out bad.
With that in mind, ESPN’s Zach Lowe reported that the Sixers could look to part ways with Doc Rivers if things don’t improve soon, as Morey and the organization are officially in a ‘championship-or-bust’ season.
NBA News: Sixers Could Part Ways With Doc Rivers
“Doc Rivers, Bill Simmons has been saying for weeks on his podcast Doc could be the first coach fired,” Lowe said “Certainly people are chattering about that in the league ecosystem, but I don’t know how much that chatter is actually reality and this is Daryl Morey’s team. This is this is the [Houston] Rockets reunion tour. This is ‘I waited on my long lost love James Harden. I waited and waited and got him back’ this is it. Like this is the team and they’ve just got to be better than this. To me, offense is fine. We’ll see that’s that’s where I give them time, right it takes time to get that snap. Start trying in transition defense because what’s on the floor right now is embarrassing.”
Sixers Players Were Tired Of Rivers Last Season
This isn’t surprising at all. If anything, multiple reports from last season stated that Rivers had already lost his locker room. He’s constantly called his players out in public, yet he refuses to make obvious adjustments that have cost him throughout his entire career:
“A few weeks ago, I’m decently tapped into the players’ side of what’s happening with the 76ers, though I don’t know anybody in the Morey administration. I’m hearing that guys are not feeling Doc,” Sixers insider Wosney Lambre reported. “And his rotations, his philosophy, what he’s doing, guys aren’t feeling it… The 76ers are in LA last week… And I run into somebody who is close to the team. I’m like ‘sorry, but I can’t pick you guys to go to the Finals this year’. And his response kinda raised my eyebrow; ‘neither would I.'”
Rivers has been on borrowed time for way too long already, and some believe he’s still living off that 2008 NBA championship. He’s made a living out of blowing leads in the playoffs, and this might as well be his final shot to prove his worth as a coach.
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