The free agency period in the NBA can always be a wild ride for everybody involved. Plans can change in the blink of an eye as players and teams make moves fast in this league.
That was the case for Philadelphia 76ers veteran PJ Tucker. The Sixers signed him to a 3-year $33 million deal order to bolster their chances of winning a championship, and they weakened a conference rival, the Miami Heat.
As Tucker gets set to return to Miami on Wednesday, he told The Miami Herald that he didn’t want to leave the Heat, but the offer from the Sixers was too good to pass up:
“Honestly, I didn’t want to leave,” Tucker said. “I expressed that I didn’t want to leave. But their situation and them not wanting to be hard-capped, I knew it was going to be a possibility. My family is still there. So I obviously wanted to be there, but it didn’t work out.”
“I think they wanted the negotiations to be a little slower than it was,” Tucker said ahead of his first game back in Miami on Wednesday night as a member of the 76ers. “Just because of the interest right off the bat. Nobody thought I was going to get three years and then to get multiple offers for a full three years, I was ready to move and figure it out.”
Tucker is averaging 3.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in his first Philadelphia season. His value goes beyond the stat sheet as he continues to find a way to contribute to winning.
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