just in: Sixers Replaced top star in the starting lineup due to…..

admin | January 18, 2024 | Other Clubs | No Comments

Rockets: 5 realistic trades involving Kevin Porter Jr.

This next deal was concocted by Sixers Nation, which is a section of the Philadelphia Sports Nation site, and it caught my eye.

The Houston Rockets know exactly what P.J. Tucker can do. He was a part of three deep postseason runs with the franchise and became the face of the Rockets’ small ball era under Mike D’Antoni.

Tucker even replaced Ryan Anderson in the starting lineup, just two seasons into Anderson’s $80 million contract, due to Tucker’s ability to play defense at an elite level. And we know how much newly-hired Rockets coach Ime Udoka values that end of the floor.

Udoka also made it a point to add veterans with championship experience this offseason (i.e. Jeff Green and Fred VanVleet) and Tucker checks that box as well, as he won a championship with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2020-21. Tucker also helped the Miami Heat reach the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022.

The 38-year-old defensive ace signed a three-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers worth $33 million and is in the second year of the deal. Tucker is still owed $22.5 million, which is the rationale for the Sixers to make the move.

And it doesn’t help that Tucker averaged just 3.5 points- his lowest since becoming a starter. Granted, he did make 39.3 percent of his treys, but on his fewest attempts in 10 seasons (1.9).

In the proposed deal, the Rockets would also land Furkan Korkmaz, who is on an expiring $5.4 million deal and could give the Rockets another shooter off the bench, as Korkmaz averaged 39.1 percent from three in 2022-23 and is a career 35.6 percent long-range shooter.

As explained in the tweet, the Sixers would get back multiple second-round picks, which they’d love to net, as they were stripped of their 2023 and 2024 second-round picks as a result of the NBA’s tampering investigation in 2022.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver determined that the Sixers violated tampering rules by negotiating with Tucker and Danuel House before the window to do so opened.