Nas takes office! The 76ers will go all out to keep Harden, provide a top salary + a chance to win a championship, and keep 20+10 superstars
Among the contenders, 76ers management eventually selected the younger championship coach Nick Nass as the team's new manager. As a result, former Rockets coach D'Antonis, who previously coached the 76ers, was not able to join forces with Harden again. However, former Raptors coach Nas's level is not inferior to D'Antonis, and he is younger than D'Antoni and more in line with the expectations of the 76ers.
Although D'Antoni didn't come, the 76ers didn't have Harden in. We know that the Rockets have a young roster and a huge salary space, but what they lack most is a chance to win a championship. Although the 76ers have stopped in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs this season, the team includes not only super centers like Embiid, but also a new generation of young stars like Maxi. Even T-Harris has good quality, but it is slightly inferior in the playoffs.
After Nas took office, according to NBA Hall of Famer Wona Rosky, the 76ers' goal has shifted to retaining the team's star point guard, James Harden. We know that in the regular season this season, Harden averaged 21 points, 10.7 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game, and he is also the "assist king" this season, although the scoring has long been not as good as it was then, but Harden's passing skills have become perfect! He is also one of the best point guards in the entire NBA.
Although some reporters believe that Harden may jump out of his final year of a big contract worth $35.64 million, if Nas takes office and can let Harden see the "championship hope" of staying with the 76ers, Harden does not necessarily have to go to the Rockets, because the Rockets have no chance to win a championship in addition to a big contract. If the 76ers insist on keeping Harden, in addition to letting Harden see the opportunity to win the championship, the most important thing is to give Harden a "maximum salary contract", and also a "long contract", that is, a long-term high-salary contract.
The hope of winning a championship and a long-term contract with a top salary has always been something Harden wants. It's just that Harden was disappointed with the 76ers' performance in the playoffs and wanted to go to the Rockets. But if the 76ers make the decision to keep Harden at full strength and continue to build a roster with Embiid + Harden as the core, the team still has hopes of winning the championship. And this offseason, in addition to keeping Harden, the 76ers also need to bring in more immediate players to strengthen the roster, which is also a prerequisite for Harden to stay on the team with peace of mind.
After firing Rivers Sr., the 76ers hired former championship coach Nas, which shows that they don't want to mess up, and even want to continue to fight for the championship, after all, compared to Rivers Sr., Nass has the same championship experience. Nas's appointment can be seen as evidence that the 76ers want to "make a difference", and retaining Harden is a prerequisite for the 76ers to win the championship next season, so the focus of the 76ers' focus this summer has completely shifted to retaining Harden.