NBA Rumors: According to recent reports, P.J. Tucker is expected to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Heading into the offseason, the Philadelphia 76ers were expected to be a team that was going to scramble to continue to build a contender around James Harden and Joel Embiid. At least thus far, they’ve done a great job in doing so.
Before even the start of free agency, the Sixers are trending in the right direction. At the NBA Draft, they acquired De’Anthony Melton and seem to have gotten a commitment (according to recent reporting) from P.J. Tucker, who opted out of his contract with the Miami Heat.
Melton will help on both ends of the floor immediately for the Sixers and Tucker gives them a level of toughness and stinginess on the defensive end that they simply didn’t have last season. Plus, it also weakens one of the Sixers’ biggest rivals.
It’s a huge win-win for the Sixers as they look to get back to contender status in the Eastern Conference.
Philadelphia lost to the Heat in six games in the Eastern Conference semifinals this past season. With a hobbled Harden and Embiid, however, the hope is that they don’t have to add much to get to the next level.
With a healthy Embiid and Harden, and with an addition such as Tucker, there’s an argument to be made that the Sixers would be ranked ahead of the Heat to start the season. In fairness, we really don’t know what the Heat will do when free agency starts.
Nevertheless, this is a huge development for the Sixers. Of course, anything can change over the course of the next few days. But the fact that there are multiple reporting that suggests Tucker is heading to the Sixers pretty much cements that idea.
The Sixers are having a great offseason thus far. And they may not even be finished.