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Sixers coach Nick Nurse makes the handsome sum of $8.5 million a year for a job that has turned ugly.

These days Nurse is realizing what he signed up for with the dysfunctional Sixers. In his first season here, he inherited the James Harden mess. This season, Daryl Morey’s grandiose plans for a Big Three turned into a Big Triage considering how often Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey ended up in the care of physicians. The team wound up tanking.

NBA coaches are hired to be fired. Just ask Taylor Jenkins, a winner who was dismissed by the Grizzlies, or Mike Budenholzer, canned by the Suns on Monday after only one season. Morey has indicated that Nurse’s job is safe for now, though, and there is much offseason work to do.

Job one: Get Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey healthy. George and Maxey say building chemistry among the three off the court would help, too.

“I don’t think it’s healthy to go two, three months before seeing each other, regardless of if we’re checking in over the phone,” George says. “It’s just different seeing each other.”

Maybe they can hang out together in the athletic trainer’s room. (Too soon?)

— Jim Swan, @phillysport, [email protected].

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❓ How can the Sixers turn it around next season? Email us back for a chance to be featured in the newsletter.

Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh is hitless in 24 at-bats in April and is batting just .108 overall this season. Manager Rob Thomson said he “read the emotional state of the player” and decided to sit Marsh for Monday’s game and possibly longer to help him “relax for a minute.” And he wants to keep Marsh’s struggles in perspective.

Taijuan Walker had a scoreless streak of 11⅔ innings into the second inning before the San Francisco Giants put up six runs en route to handing the Phillies a 10-4 series-opening loss.

Next: The Phillies continue their series against San Francisco at 6:45 tonight (NBCSP+). Jesus Luzardo (2-0, 1.50) will start against Giants right-hander Justin Verlander (0-0, 6.92).

The transfer portal giveth and it taketh away. On Monday, two Big 5 teams fell into the “taketh away” department:

Dallas Goedert is on the trade market and in the final year of a contract with no guaranteed money remaining. Could the Eagles find his successor in a deep class of tight end prospects in this month’s NFL draft? Forget about Penn State’s mega-talented Tyler Warren unless the Birds trade way up. Some prospects could be good fits for the Eagles on Day 2, among them are LSU’s Mason Taylor and Bowling Green’s Harold Fannin.

Kyle Lowry, the Philly native and former Villanova star, does not want this to be the final chapter of a 19-year NBA career, during which he became a six-time All-Star and 2019 champion. He is 39 and a hip injury all but ruined his season with the Sixers, but Lowry says, “I still want to play one more year, and hopefully it’s here.”

Who was the last Phillie to lead the National League in saves? First with the correct answer here will be featured in the newsletter.

A) Steve Bedrosian

B) Jim Konstanty

C) Brad Lidge

D) Billy Wagner

We asked you: What’s your biggest concern about the Phillies, who have lost five of their last eight games? Among your responses:

It’s early in the year but if this trend continues of getting good pitching with little run support we are going nowhere fast. Most games thus far the starters have done their job but have had little to no support from the offense. Too many bad swings at times showing a lack of discipline at the plate. Batting order 1-5 generate some swagger but so far 6-9 offer little to no resistance. Without some changes to the bottom of the lineup we will be an average team with a small chance of making the playoffs. — Bill B.

Nola: What’s wrong with a once ACE! — Richard H.

The old adage it’s only April doesn’t fly anymore. This has to be fixed now. Send Marsh and Bohm down to try to get their acts together. Bring up Crawford and maybe Kennedy. Find a lineup that jells and stay with it. Worth a shot. — Jack H.

I have a lot of concerns. What a terrible road trip they had. Can’t win a WS if you can’t win on the road. Marsh is terrible and needs out of the lineup. Bohm is struggling but Sosa sits? What is Thomson thinking? Putting Romano in at all is ridiculous. He should ride the pine until he gets traded (If there’s a God) They lost 7-0 yesterday and that says it all. Can’t win games if you don’t hit. Get it together Phils or it will be another October bust. — Kathy T.

My two biggest concerns, which are certainly not new concerns, are 1) the bullpen, and 2) the lack of offensive production out of left and center field. Year after year the Phillies appear to be addressing these issues “on the cheap.” With the Phillies’ two biggest competitors in the NL, the Dodgers and the Mets, opening their bank vaults to unprecedented levels, the Phillies need to change their approach to addressing these deficiencies if they truly want to make a run with this core group to the World Series. — Jim V.

Biggest concerns — Hitting, fielding, pitching, relief pitching, managing, and more, but a huge concern is the Phillies’ very poor away from home record. This year so far 3-1 at home and 2-4 on the road. This is a consistent problem with Rob’s teams. In 2022 home 46-35 and on the road 40-41. In 2023 almost identical with 49-32 at home and 41-40 away. Last year 2024 they were 54-27 at home and again 41-40 away. Might be time for Mr. Middleton to shake things up. — Everett S.

Deja vu all over again! The offense feasts on weak pitching, struggles against good pitching. Same storyline from the past 3 years of the playoffs. I sat in right field as the Astros no-hit the Phillies in the 2022 Fall Classic. The ’23 series vs. Arizona and the ’24 meltdown vs. the Mets yielded the same results — weak hitting. The bullpen lost Jeff Hoffman and acquired Jordan Romano. Not a great trade-off at this juncture. It is early , but I fear the Phillies are making the same mistake Ruben Amaro made, sticking with the core a bit too long. — Bob C.

Scoring runs. — Richard V.

The Phillies seem like 2 different teams. There is the one that just lost 2 of 3 from the Cardinals where they couldn’t hit their way out of a paper bag and then there is the team that scores runs in double numbers where everyone seems to hit. The problem is basically a lack of consistent, timely hitting which, I assume, they are trying to correct by trying not to swing at pitches out of the strike zone. This is a team of aggressive hitters, but they must learn patience. — Richard F.

They do not hit enough and their relief pitching is rather lousy. — Gary P.

Like almost every year in recent history, the Phillies’ poor situational hitting, far too many strikeouts, relievers walking leadoff batters, and Aaron Nola yielding at least 1 HR every game, continue to plague the Fightin’ Phils. It’s Deja Vu all over again. This club’s penchant for swinging at pitches out of the strike zone, failing to put the ball in play, and issuing bases on balls to the first batter in the late innings is absolutely mind boggling. And yet I live in hope … — Stephen T.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Keith Pompey, Lochlahn March, Gina Mizell, EJ Smith, Jonathan Tannenwald, Joseph Santoliquito, and Jeff Neiburg.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

That’s all for now, Sports Daily fans. Bella will be at the newsletter’s controls on Wednesday. Thanks for reading. — Jim