Sixers Will Land P.J. Tucker on Multi-Year Deal

The Philadelphia 76ers will sign former Miami Heat veteran P.J. Tucker to a multi-year deal, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Per Charania's report,

The Philadelphia 76ers will sign former Miami Heat veteran P.J. Tucker to a multi-year deal, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Per Charania's report, the deal is worth over $30 million for the next three seasons. 

Tucker landing with the Sixers at the opening of free agency is far from a surprise. Once the veteran declined his player option with the Heat for the 2022-2023 season, Tucker signaled he was headed for free agency this offseason. 

Over the last couple of weeks, Tucker was linked to the Sixers, considering he has familiarity with the organization. Back in 2017, Tucker signed with the Houston Rockets. At the time, Sixers President Daryl Morey was in charge of Houston’s front office.

During Morey’s first season in charge of Sixers personnel, the President of Basketball Ops reportedly attempted to trade for Tucker. The Rockets instead sent the veteran to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Fast forward two offseasons later, and the Sixers now have two former Rockets in Philadelphia, as Morey successfully acquired James Harden and now Tucker. 

With Tucker, the Sixers get a seasoned NBA champion. Being in the league since 2006, Tucker has plenty of experience on the floor. While his defense and reliability shooting from beyond the arc will certainly help the Sixers, Tucker’s enforcer-like attitude was much needed in Philadelphia, in the eyes of Sixers’ star Joel Embiid.

“Defensively, he plays with so much energy, he believes that he can get from point A to point B, and he believes that no one can beat him,” said Embiid regarding Tucker a couple of months back. “He’s just physical, and he’s tough, and [the Heat] have a few of those guys, whether it’s Bam and all those guys. And since I’ve been here, I’d be lying if I said that we’ve had those types of guys. Nothing against what we have, it’s just the truth. We never had P.J. Tucker. That’s really what I’m trying to say.”

Now, Embiid and the Sixers have P.J. Tucker going into the 2022-2023 season. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.