Joel Embiid said he wanted to play with someone like P.J. Tucker.
Now, he’s going to play with THE P.J. Tucker.
As had been expected, Tucker signed a fully guaranteed three-year, $33.2 million contract with the 76ers, a story officially broken by Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Free agent PJ Tucker is finalizing a three-year, $33.2 million fully guaranteed deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, his agent Andre Buck (@andrebuck14) told @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022
That is the full mid-level exception going to Tucker at age 37 — and running through his age 40 season. Miami had tried hard to keep Tucker and offered similar money, and other suitors wanted to talk to Tucker, but he had been locked in on Philadelphia for a while. This is where Embiid’s friendship with Tucker paid off.
Tucker brings the 76ers defensive versatility they lacked in the playoffs (James Harden is no Ben Simmons on defense) plus Tucker is a knock-down corner three shooter. The 76ers signed him for the postseason, not so much the first 82 games.
The 76ers also used the bi-annual exception to sign Danuel House, another defense-first player for their perimeter.
That hard caps Philadelphia for the season.
The 76ers are now hard capped at the Tax Apron by virtue of using the full Non-Taxpayer MLE to sign P.J. Tucker and the Bi-Annual Exception to sign Danuel House.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 30, 2022
There is still a James Harden contract coming from the 76ers, he opted out of his deal to take a new, less expensive one to help the 76ers build out the roster with guys such as Tucker.
