Can Nick Nurse work his magic to overcome the Sixers’ injuries and lack of on-court chemistry?

Coaching the 76ers has been anything but ideal for Nick Nurse.

When he was introduced as head coach on June 1, 2023, the expectation was that the Sixers would trade James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers that summer. But they suspended trade talks that August, which led the disgruntled point guard to call team president of basketball operations Daryl Morey “a liar.”

Harden also vowed he would never play for an organization that includes Morey. He did, however, report to training camp after missing media day in Camden and the first training camp practice at Colorado State University.

Harden was absent following a team practice in Camden and returned several days later. Upon his return, he expected to accompany his teammates on the season-opening road trip. Even after the Sixers instructed him to stay behind to “ramp up” his conditioning, Harden still tried to board the team flight to Milwaukee.

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Harden was eventually traded on Nov. 1, 2023, ending a significant distraction for Nurse and the Sixers. After that, the team had to manage Joel Embiid’s ailing left knee before he eventually suffered a torn meniscus on Jan. 31, 2024. Knee problems limited Embiid’s 2023-24 regular season to 39 games.

He returned with seven games remaining, but the Sixers lost to the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.

The thought was that things would get better for Nurse and the Sixers last season after the free-agency acquisition of Paul George. However, the Big Three of George, Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey played only 15 games together.

Embiid and George were sidelined at the start of the season. Then Embiid (left knee injury management) was shut down for the remainder of the season on Feb. 28. The Sixers did the same thing to George on March 17 after he received injections in his groin and left knee. Meanwhile, Maxey missed the last 22 games with a lower-back sprain and reinjured his sprained right finger.

With that, the Sixers opted to tank the final two months of the season, finishing with the NBA’s fifth-worst record at 24-58.

The misery, once again, turned to optimism after the Sixers were awarded the third pick in this year’s draft lottery and used it to select VJ Edgecombe out of Baylor.

But while Edgecombe has shown to be a solid backcourt pairing with Maxey, injuries have once again impacted preseason preparation. Embiid made his preseason debut in Friday’s 126-110 exhibition finale win over the Minnesota Timberwolves at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Embiid finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, a game-high eight assists, and three steals in 18 minutes, 35 seconds. But George, who had arthroscopic left knee surgery on July 14, is expected to miss the start of the season for the second consecutive year.

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Meanwhile, Jared McCain will be re-evaluated in two weeks for a UCL ligament tear in his right thumb. This comes on the heels of the second-year guard having his season cut short at 23 games last year due to a meniscus tear in his left knee. Another Sixer, Trendon Watford, is also sidelined with a left hamstring injury.

How do you expect Nurse to build a foundation when, for the third consecutive year, training camp has been marred by drama or injuries that last into the season?

What makes matters worse is that this is supposed to be a defining season for the Sixers in what is expected to be a wide-open Eastern Conference.

But you’ll be hard-pressed to find folks who know the coach’s track record and feel sorry for him.

That’s partly because the coach’s job is to coach the players he has. It hasn’t always been ideal, but Nurse has done a good job of working with what he has on various levels.

His supporters point out that he’s built a championship resumé while overcoming constant player movement in the NBA G League and overseas.

During the 2012-13 season, Nurse led the Rio Grande Valley Vipers to a 35-15 record and the then-called NBA Development League title.

It was his second D League title. He led the Iowa Energy to the 2011 championship. A great developer of talent, Nurse had 23 players called up to the NBA during his six seasons in the D League.

But Nurse is best known in the NBA for leading the Toronto Raptors to the 2019 title in his first year as an NBA head coach and having three postseason appearances. He was the 2020 NBA coach of the year. He also won two British Basketball League titles before coaching in the NBA.

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Nurse chuckled when told of the confidence that coaches have in his ability to overcome less-than-ideal situations. He did admit that his overseas and G League experience is a benefit when dealing with roster uncertainty.

But that doesn’t make situations less challenging.

“We’re still maneuvering it,” Nurse said of the Sixers’ current situation. “It’s constant maneuvering. But the guys have been good about their amount of work ethic. Even the guys who haven’t been in there have been super present and focused, you know? So when they do step in there, they’re just picking things up so quickly. That’s been a big key this year.”

That was evident on Friday, as Embiid was in sync with his teammates. Like him, George has been present in team meetings, film studies, and practices. In an era of skipping practice for load management, the Sixers are using mental reps as a way to keep their standouts up to speed.

Another thing that helped is that players reported to the team’s practice facility three weeks before the start of training camp for voluntary group workouts and scrimmages.

That’s a great sign that the players are all buying in and want to prove something this season.

Even though the preseason wasn’t ideal, the Sixers still have plenty of time to build on-court chemistry. The main goal right now is making sure that Embiid and George remain healthy while trying to secure a postseason berth.

The continuity won’t always be there. Game to game, you won’t always know who’s playing. So yes, it’s definitely true that the environment in which to build is not optimal for a coach.

But Nurse is not only used to it; he has a history of overcoming it.

And with no clear-cut favorite in the East, he still could have a legitimate opportunity to do it again this season.