Doc Rivers to return as coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, president Daryl Morey says

CAMDEN, N.J. — Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said coach Doc Rivers will return next season for a third year with the franchise.

«I just think he's a great coach,» Morey said during Friday's exit interviews after the Sixers were eliminated the previous night on their home court by the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals. «I love working with him. I feel like I'm learning from him. I think [general manager] Elton [Brand] and I and him make a great team, and we're gonna see where this journey takes us.

»But we feel very good about where it's gonna take us, and it's gonna be where we have a very good chance to win the title."

That has been the goal each of the past two seasons in Philadelphia, since Morey arrived from the Houston Rockets and Rivers from the LA Clippers: to take this team to level it hasn't reached in a generation. The 76ers haven't made it past the second round of the playoffs — where they've now lost four times in five years — since reaching the NBA Finals in 2001.

The 76ers haven't won an NBA championship since 1983.

Morey reiterated that goal when he traded Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round draft picks for James Harden in this season's blockbuster deal at the trade deadline.

On Friday, Morey repeatedly said the 76ers are looking forward to spending the offseason finding ways to «unlock» Harden, who was underwhelming in the playoffs (18.6 points, 8.6 assists), and to clean up the fit alongside superstar center Joel Embiid.

When asked several times directly if that meant Harden has more levels to reach or if fans should come to lower their expectations for the former NBA MVP moving forward, Morey artfully danced around the question