Nick Nurse Assesses Current State of Sixers' Rotation

Nick Nurse is far from ready to finalize the Sixers' rotation, but he's getting a good idea of it halfway through the preseason.

Two preseason games in, Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse is still trying to figure out what the team’s true rotation will look like when the 2023-2024 season begins officially.

To no surprise, Nurse admits he doesn’t have a “very good idea” of the rotation at this point, considering there are players who haven’t had the chance to take the court through the team’s first two games against the Boston Celtics.

“It’s really hard to do in the preseason because you don’t ever get everybody there,” Nurse told reporters following Friday’s practice. “Hopefully, we will for a couple of games so we can at least look at it.”

The Sixers missed a handful of players through the first two games of their preseason run. While Joel Embiid and James Harden are the only two players to miss both games, you can guarantee the All-Star duo will be in the team’s starting lineup when the regular season begins.

As for the sharpshooter Furkan Korkmaz and the athletic wing Danuel House Jr., they are battling for a spot in the rotation and are doing so on limited playing time as of now.

While House appeared in the Sixers’ preseason opener against the Boston Celtics last Sunday, he was a late scratch for the rematch on Wednesday due to knee soreness. Meanwhile, Furkan Korkmaz has yet to make his preseason debut as he deals with a leg strain.

“Furk, we haven’t seen him for a while,” Nurse explained. “He’s progressing well. I think he’s going to be able to go and practice tomorrow but should be ready to play some minutes on Monday.”

Korkmaz and House would likely find themselves deeper in the rotation if they manage to crack it. As for a few other players, they seem to be on pace to win some regular minutes as of now.

Paul Reed is expected to have a steady role on the Sixers in 2023-24 / USA Today

“Paul Reed’s probably, for sure, in the rotation,” Nurse stated.

Last season, Reed found himself picking up scattered minutes in Doc Rivers’ rotation. Through the first month of the year, he appeared in 12 of 15 games, averaging fewer than eight minutes on the court. After an inspiring playoff performance in 2023 and a promising offseason in the eyes of Nurse, it appears Reed is finally going to be rewarded for his contributions and earn some steady playing time during the regular season.

“Where does everybody else fall? They’re still battling,” Nurse added. “I think (Kelly) Oubre is showing he’s probably gonna hit the rotation. Danny (Green) played pretty well.”

Green and Oubre are two players the Sixers got on minimum contracts via free agency well after the market opened up. Both have proven to be productive players in their past situations, and both are having themselves a decent preseason halfway through. 

The last player that Nurse mentioned is the growing fan-favorite Jaden Springer. As the former first-round pick had a standout performance in the first preseason outing, followed by a decent second outing three nights later, Springer is showing some real growth after spending the last two seasons battling at the G League level.

“Jaden Springer, just because of the numbers of all of those guys I just talked about, I probably had Jaden a little further down just out of need,” Nurse explained. “He’s kind of vaulted himself back up into the conversation for sure. He’s just done everything we’ve asked him to do and played really well.” 

Experience will always play a key part in a playoff team’s rotation, which is why Springer’s opportunity to compete at the NBA level hasn’t been available to him at this point in his career. While Nurse isn’t completely sold on offering a rotation spot to Springer right now, that doesn’t mean the opportunity is off the table. 

With two games, and a ton of practices left to go before the Sixers travel to Milwaukee for their season opener, there’s plenty of time for Nurse’s rotation to see some notable changes.