Just two days after being swept out of the playoffs by the New York Knicks and losing the four games by an average of 22.5 points, the Philadelphia 76ers are doing a reset. The first domino to fall is president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, 53, whose six-year tenure ended not with a handshake but with a slow-burning fracture.

The clearest sign of the break: Joel Embiid, the franchise cornerstone Morey spent hundreds of millions to build around, stood at the podium after Game 4 and called out “ownership, front office, players, coaches — everybody” for needing to get better. In the NBA, when your franchise player publicly indicts the front office, the front office tends to disappear. Morey disappeared 48 hours later.

The Athletic’s Tony Jones stated that the franchise owners, Josh Harris and David Blitzer, met Morey on Tuesday evening in Philadelphia, and the decision was made. He further added, “When told of the news of his dismissal, Daryl Morey was disappointed, but understanding of the decision. The meeting between him and ownership was a positive one. The two sides parted on good terms.”

For 76ers faithful, clinging to their ‘Process,” the report certainly seems disappointing. Morey- a man who genuinely believed, even through the dysfunction, that he was one healthy Embiid season away from breaking through. They even have a replacement ready in a 4x NBA champion roster-building personnel.

Bob Myers, the architect of the Golden State Warriors’ four championships, currently serves as president of sports for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. Now he will take over as head of basketball operations for the 76ers in the interim and will also lead the search for a long-term replacement. Speaking of replacement, one of the owners praised Daryl Morey for the work done till now.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Daryl personally and professionally, and I’m grateful for his contributions over the last six seasons,” Harris said in a statement announcing the firing.

“After speaking with Daryl, we determined that it was time for a fresh start. Bob Myers will lead the process of identifying a new leader, and I believe his experience in constructing four NBA championship teams will be a valuable resource to our organization.”

In the past 6 seasons, the Sixers have had five playoff berths and a 270-212 regular-season record, but just 26-26 in the postseason. But they never advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs.

The speed of the decision was no accident. Ownership had one window to act before the offseason market- coaching searches, free agency, trade talks- began moving without them.

Embiid’s postgame statement, delivered publicly and pointedly, gave Harris and Blitzer the signal they needed. Waiting weeks would have looked like paralysis.

Acting in 48 hours looked like accountability. The final indignity may have been the optics of Knicks fans essentially taking over Xfinity Mobile Arena during the sweep- the second time in two years New York’s fanbase had colonized a Sixers home playoff game.

In today’s NBA, patience is practically extinct. Of the last seven coaches to win a championship, four were fired within five seasons by the teams they led to titles. GMs fare no better: Morey’s own predecessor, Elton Brand, was pushed out in 2020 for the same sin – playoff appearances without a deep run.

In a league where the margin between “promising” and “replaceable” is measured in conference finals appearances, Morey simply never cashed the check his regular-season resume wrote.

For an ownership group that prides itself on market dominance, that image was unsustainable.

One of his early problematic decisions was trading James Harden. The Beard came to Philly ahead of the 2022 deadline, but his tenure was cut short as the 76ers declined to offer Harden a long-term maximum contract in 2023. This even led Harden to call out the then-president during a promotional tour in China.

“Daryl Morey is a liar, and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of. Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar, and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.”

Another controversy arose when he signed Paul George to a four-year, $212 million maximum deal in the summer of 2024, and Joel Embiid to a three-year, $192.9 million contract extension. The vision was the Big 3 of PG, Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey, but they have played only 43 games together over the past two seasons, including the playoffs, owning a 21-22 record.

The financial implication is huge this season, as they are owed $153 million. To somewhat course correct the financial strain, Daryl Morey even traded Jared McCain to Oklahoma City at the February trade deadline to get under the luxury tax line.

Morey called it “selling high” at the time. It didn’t age well. McCain, barely used in Philadelphia despite a non-existent bench rotation, averaged 11.5 points for the defending-champion Thunder in their second-round sweep of the Lakers.

The man who said the Sixers were selling high had, in fact, sold remarkably low, and within weeks, both McCain and Morey were gone, just in very different ways.

In return, they got a 2026 first-round pick and three second-round picks, basically pocket change. As no other additions were made to boost the team for a playoff run, it even led to tension between Embiid and Morey.

That’s why the former MVP put the franchise on notice with his goals for next season.

“At times, it’s okay to just say the other team was better,” Embiid said after the game 4 loss. “Got to get better, from top to bottom. Ownership, front office, players, coaches. Everybody just has to get better.”

Ownership took notice, and the first domino of change has taken place.

Nick Nurse remains in the seat amid Daryl Morey’s dismissal

Nurse’s time in Philadelphia has been far from perfect (a 116-130 regular-season record). But his coaching IQ was on display when the underdog 76ers beat the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. With the roster never being fit enough, it has been a great challenge for the head coach, and it seems ownership is impressed so far.

“Head coach Nick Nurse will continue in his role into a fourth season with the 76ers, sources tell ESPN.”

Sources also revealed that the ownership will only Nurse if they find another championship-level coach. Another reason the head coach got to stay, and Daryl Morey didn’t, was that the former is well-respected within the franchise, especially in the locker room.

After the Knicks swept the Sixers in Game 4, changes had to be made, and the numbers tell you exactly why. The Knicks outscored the 76ers 497-408 across four games, won three of those four by double digits, and finished with a 19.4-point average margin of victory- the largest through two playoff rounds since the league expanded to 16 teams in 1984.

The Sixers had the first basket in Game 4, but the Knicks then went on a 20-4 run, were up 20 before the end of the first quarter, and led by as many as 44. In the postseason alone, the Sixers lost four times by at least 30 points.

If the scoreboard wasn’t humiliating enough, the atmosphere inside Xfinity Mobile Arena was. Knicks fans raised brooms outside the arena and waved “Always Knicks” towels once inside, noisily neutering the few Sixers fans who hadn’t sold their seats on the secondary market.

And if the sweep and the fan takeover didn’t saddle the Sixers with enough bad news, there was one final cutting blow to the ego: Philadelphia’s first-round 2018 draft pick is still playing, Landry Shamet, of course, for the Knicks. That is the full picture of the embarrassment, not just a bad series, but a franchise humiliated in its own building,