Phil Handy is finalizing a deal to join Nick Nurse’s Philadelphia 76ers coaching staff, according to Marc J. Spears. The move would reunite Handy with both Nurse and LeBron James as Philadelphia enters the 2026-27 season with a rebuilt championship-contending roster.
Handy previously worked alongside Nurse as an assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors during the 2018-19 season, when Toronto won its first NBA championship. He also spent five seasons with James on the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2013 to 2018 and another five with the Los Angeles Lakers from 2019 to 2024.
The Cavaliers reached four consecutive NBA Finals during Handy’s tenure, winning the 2016 championship, while his time with the Lakers included the franchise’s 2020 title. Philadelphia would therefore become the third NBA organization where Handy and James have worked together.
Handy joins a 76ers staff led by Nurse after spending the 2025-26 season as an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks. His NBA coaching career began in player development with the Lakers in 2011 before he joined Cleveland’s staff under Mike Brown in 2013.
The 76ers are coming off a 45-37 season that ended with a four-game sweep against the eventual NBA champion New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Philadelphia had defeated the Boston Celtics in seven games in the first round, overcoming a 2-1 series deficit before winning Games 5, 6 and 7.
Tyrese Maxey led the 76ers in 2025-26 with 28.3 points and 6.6 assists per game while earning All-Star and All-NBA Third Team honors. Joel Embiid played 38 games and averaged 26.9 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists, while rookie VJ Edgecombe started all 75 of his appearances and averaged 16.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists.
Philadelphia has since dramatically reshaped its roster. The 76ers acquired Jaylen Brown in a trade that sent Paul George to Boston, then signed James to a two-year contract with a player option for the second season.
James, entering his 24th NBA season, is expected to join Embiid, Maxey and Brown at the center of Philadelphia’s championship push. Handy’s arrival would give Nurse another coach with extensive experience working with James, while also restoring the partnership between Nurse and Handy that produced a championship in Toronto.
Philadelphia also added Anfernee Simons, Dean Wade, Ariel Hukporti and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as part of an offseason that substantially changed the rotation around its returning core. The 76ers will now attempt to turn a team that finished seventh in the Eastern Conference in 2025-26 into a title contender built around four established stars.
