When Philadelphia picked Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, they quickly established themselves as a competitive squad. From there, the franchise looked for a head coach who could lead them to a lengthy playoff run. That began with Brett Brown. Brown, a former San Antonio Spurs assistant, became the first head coach hired by new general manager Sam Hinkie. The former Rocket executive stepped in and launched The Process, a method that has become infamous in Philadelphia.

For Brown, this meant coaching a squad that was built to lose. Doug Collins led the 76ers to 34 wins the year before his signing. Two years ago, they won 41 games and had a.500 record. The Sixers won only 19 games in Brown’s first season. Philadelphia won 18 the following year and 10 the year after that to acquire players such as Embiid and Simmons. While it achieved to some extent, Hinkie struggled to draft the ideal players for forthcoming basketball games and was fired.

Daryl Morey, President of Basketball Operations, began leading The Process to unprecedented heights, with Brown winning more than 50 games in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Looking to move on, Morey fired Brown and recruited Doc Rivers, a former Celtics and Clippers coach with championship experience.

By the time Doc arrived, Simmons was dissatisfied and ready to leave. However, Embiid had developed into an MVP-caliber player. The 76ers won 49 games and came close to making the Eastern Conference Finals, but lost a seven-game heartbreaker in the semifinals.

Since Embiid arrived in Philadelphia, expectations for 2021-22 have been at an all-time high. Former MVP James Harden joined the squad in the offseason, and the Sixers won 51 games. However, they stopped again in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, falling to Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat in a vengeance series. Butler had played for the 76ers during their successful 2018-19 season, but the bond was brief. He disagreed with the coaching staff and front management on team ideology and usage.

Philadelphia’s performance in 2021-22 set sky-high expectations for 2022-23, as many predicted the Sixers to win the Eastern Conference with Embiid and Harden fully healthy. Tyrese Maxey’s emergence as a credible third scorer contributed to these lofty expectations. However, the season ended in disappointment, despite Embiid winning his first league MVP title. After winning 54 games during the Embiid era, the 76ers suffered another agonizing seven-game series loss to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

With the setback, Philadelphia had made the playoffs for six consecutive seasons but had never advanced past the second round. Doc Rivers lost his job as a result of this failure.

Expectations for this season remain high, but the drama in Philadelphia has reached a fever pitch. Harden is dissatisfied, and the 76ers will most likely have to move him to avoid paying out his contract. While dealing with that, the front office also hired Nick Nurse, the former head coach of the Toronto Raptors. Before becoming head coach, Nurse worked as an assistant coach in Toronto for five seasons.

The Raptors traded for Kawhi Leonard during his debut season. The superstar and first-year head coach guided Toronto to 58 victories and the NBA championship for the first time in franchise history. However, the results deteriorated after that. The championship season was Leonard’s only season in Toronto, and without him, the club suffered. The following season, they won 53 games and advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, but then finished with 27 wins.