P.J. Tucker is headed to The City of Brotherly Love.
The band is getting back together in Philadelphia – the Houston band that is, with P.J. Tucker and Danuel House Jr. reuniting with former teammate James Harden and former GM Daryl Morey, now president of basketball operations for the Sixers.
Tucker, 37, reportedly has agreed to a three-year, $33.2 million fully guaranteed contract to join the Philadelphia 76ers, his fourth team in four seasons. The deal was announced by the team on July 7.
welcome to the city of brotherly love, P.J. Tucker!
🏠 @Houwzer pic.twitter.com/1cLLwj5TQC
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) July 6, 2022
House, 29, also agreed to sign with Philadelphia, according to multiple reports.
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
Free agent Danuel House Junior has agreed to deal with the Sixers, according to @ShamsCharania
We reported earlier today Sixers had targeted him
He played for Daryl Morey in Houston and shot 41.5% from three this year pic.twitter.com/43ZgDsd4yB
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) June 30, 2022
While Morey is the impresario in charge of roster building in Philly, he got an assist from Harden. The 10-time All-Star reportedly did not exercise his $47.4 million contract option at its Wednesday deadline. His intent: Allow some payroll flexibility so Morey can enhance the Sixers roster before signing a new multi-year contract to begin this season.
Tucker spent three-plus seasons with Harden in Houston (2017-2021), with House arriving in 2018-19. In the Rockets’ two seasons with all three players, they went 97-57 (.630) and reached the Western Conference semifinals each postseason.
Harden, 32, is the star looking to refurbish his game and reputation after twice pushing for trades in a span of 13 months, most recently from Brooklyn to Philadelphia in February. He appeared in 21 regular-season games for the Sixers, averaging 21.0 points (nearly four below his career average) while shooting 40.2% overall (32.6% on threes).
As part of his mission this offseason, Morey looks to enhance the roster to capitalize on All-Star center and Kia MVP runner-up Joel Embiid’s prime in pursuit of an NBA title. Tucker is just a year removed from achieving that with Milwaukee in 2021, then helping Miami to earn the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference this postseason.
The stocky, much-traveled Tucker averaged a modest 7.6 points and 5.5 rebounds in 2021-22 but hit 41.5% of his 3-point attempts and is widely regarded as a tenacious, physical defender capable of guarding multiple positions.
House, at 6-foot-6 and 220, is a little lither than Tucker but brings a similar 3-and-D game. He was waived last December by Houston, signed a series of 10-day contracts with New York and Utah, closing out the season with 24 games with the Jazz. A career 8.5 ppg scorer, House averaged 6.8 points and 41.5% shooting from the arc with Utah.
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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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