The Philadelphia 76ers have agreed to terms with Nick Nurse to be the franchise's next head coach. Nurse was previously the head coach of the Toronto Raptors.

In five seasons leading the Raptors, Nurse went 227-163 in the regular season. His teams made the playoffs three times and won the NBA Finals in 2019.

The Sixers fired Doc Rivers after three seasons as their head coach. Rivers went 154-82 and made the playoffs in all three seasons in Philadelphia. However, Rivers' 76ers teams failed to advance past the second round in any of those three seasons.

Nick Nurse reportedly pulled out of consideration for the Milwaukee Bucks' head coaching job before they hired Adrian Griffin this weekend.

Nurse is also a candidate for the Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns. Nurse is considering his options after meeting with both teams this past week.

Nurse previously worked with Daryl Morey and finds the prospect of reuniting enticing, sources tell Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

In an appearance on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption, Brian Windhorst said the Philadelphia 76ers do not want to pay James Harden the maximum that they are allowed in free agency.

“The 76ers have not shown an appetite to pay Harden the max; that’s why they asked him to take a pay cut last year,” Windhorst reported. "The Sixers are not really motivated to pay him that max salary if they don’t think anybody else is going to do it.

Harden is eligible to sign a four-year deal with the Sixers for over $210 million. Harden's max deal with another team would be for $201.7 million over four years. Harden is functionally limited to signing a four-year contract due to the Over-38 rule.

After advancing to The Finals for the first time in his career, Nikola Jokic was asked how winning Western Conference Finals MVP compares to winning two regular season MVPs. 

"To be honest, this is just -- I don't know, I don't think about MVPs anymore," said Jokic. "I think people are just mean and saying that [Joel] Embiid shouldn't have won it. I think he should have won it. I think he was playing, if you watch it, extremely, extremely tough basketball through the whole season.

"I don't want to say a player doesn't mean that, but he was really amazing in 82 games or however many games he played."

Nick Nurse will meet with the Philadelphia 76ers this week and is also expected to meet with the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns.

Nurse was let go by the Toronto Raptors after five seasons with the franchise, winning the championship in his first campaign.

Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that Nurse "is expected to be in high demand and could possibly have his job to choose from, essentially his own selection process."

Daryl Morey hired Nurse to coach the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in 2011.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski also reported he expects Nurse to get at least one offer from one of the teams interesting in hiring him.

The Houston Rockets "expect" to sign James Harden this offseason, sources tell Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Sources also tell Pompey that Harden's interest in returning to the Rockets is mutual and not a negotiating ploy with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Harden could sign for up to $210 million over four seasons with the Sixers, or up to $201.7 million over four seasons with a rival team. The Rockets are positioned to have approximately $60 million in cap space.

Harden's mother still lives in Houston and he has several business ventures there.

“He’s treated like a god in Houston,” said one source.

Nick Nurse will meet with the Philadelphia 76ers this week over the vacant head coach role, sources told Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

The Sixers are expected to meet with several candidates, including Mike Budenholzer, Sam Cassell, and Mike D’Antoni.

Nurse has also been linked with the Suns job. 

While Daryl Morey attempted to take responsibility for the decision to fire Doc Rivers as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, several members of the coaching staff have blamed James Harden.

Harden was tepid in his response when asked to describe his relationship with Rivers after the Sixers were eliminated in Game 7 of the second round.

Harden will be a free agent this offseason and it was reported before Rivers was fired that the status of the head coach would be a factor in his decision on whether to re-sign.

Philadelphia is considering Mike Budenholzer, Frank Vogel, Sam Cassell, Mike D'Antoni and Nick Nurse for the position.

James Harden will decline his $35.6 million player option with the Philadelphia 76ers to become a free agent this offseason in search of a long-term deal, sources tell Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report.

Harden re-signed with the Sixers last offseason on a two-year, $68 million deal after he declined his $47.4 million player option.

Harden is reportedly "very serious" about signing with the Houston Rockets and the franchise "thinks" he will return. Harden requested a trade from the Rockets in 2020.

Sources tell Haynes, however, that "Harden will only entertain suitors that present a competitive roster and the basketball freedom for the star to be himself."

Harden averaged 21.0 points, 6.1 rebounds and 10.7 assists last season with the Sixers.

Game 7 between the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics averaged a 3.9 rating and 8.44 million viewers on ABC.

The number represents the third most-watched early round playoff game since 2011, with the top four coming this postseason.

The game peaked with 10.17 million viewers.

The NBA playoffs are averaging 5.23 million viewers on ABC and ESPN, the networks' highest average since acquiring its television rights.